Creatures Of The Night
by Silversnow
Summary: The League is attacked onboard the Nautilus. Can they find their enemy before it is too late? FINISHED!
1. Prolouge

Disclaimer: I don't own the LXG or any of the characters in it. The characters that doesn't originally belong to the LXG are mine and mine alone.

- - -

Night. The fog lay heavily on the streets of London. A carrion came, slowly making its way towards a specific house. It looked like a castle out of a child's nightmares in the thick mist.

The carrion stopped outside of the large foreboding house. A tall man stepped out of it and said something to the coachman before entering the house. A man came to greet him.

"Good evening sir. Are you Mr. Jones?"

"Yes, I am. But I never got to know your name."

"Oh, just call me Charlie."

Mr. Jones took off his coat and hung it on a rack by the door while Charlie took up a ring full of keys.

"I have been told that you are here to see Talley." He said while looking for the right key.

"That's right."

Charlie looked up on Jones while taking out the key.

"Are you sure about that? Talley can be very... unpredictable at nights. Especially nights like these. Perhaps you would like to wait until..."

"Until morning?" Jones interrupted him. He gave Charlie a cold look. "Wait until he's half asleep and much too tired to talk? No, this is the only time I can talk to him. Now that he is..."

He was in turn interrupted by a loud scream that cut through the air like a knife. This scream made others in the insane asylum scream and howl out of fear. Jones smiled.

"Alert."

Charlie was used to the madness around him, to screams in the middle of night. But he wasn't used to any man that could listen to their screams and smile like that. With an uneasy feeling, he opened the large barred door and lead Jones down a long, dank hallway.

He ignored all the voices around him and headed towards the isolation cell. There stood two heavily armed guards and stared out into nothing, too occupied with their own thoughts to mind the other patients.

They glared suspicially at Jones and Charlie, but stepped aside when they recognized Charlie. He unlocked the door and stepped aside.

"When you're done, just tell me. If he does anything, just scream. The boys will help you."

Jones stepped into the cell. It smelled heavily of sweat and had a hint of blood. 

Jones looked at the figure in the other end of the room and smiled again. The figure, Talley, wandered restlessly back and forth, mumbling and growling to himself. The chains that kept him held in that end of the room played their melody as he wandered.

"Gregory Talley." Jones said calmly. He saw a pair of eyes in the dark.

"What?" Talley growled at him. "I don't want visitors. Leave the way you came in."

Jones didn't move.

"I have an offer that you might find interesting." He said. He listened to the long stream of curses that Talley snarled and spat.

"To hell with your offers! I'm not interested!"

"I offer you freedom."

For once, Talley was silent.

"What?" he whispered.

"I offer you freedom, and another thing you've been wishing for in all these years, in exchange for your help with a small matter."

Talley's voice was forced, as if he had to put much energy in controlling it.

"Hrrm... what matter...?"

Jones smiled to himself again.

"I think you've heard of someone called Allan Quatermain?"

Talley's eyes glimmered evilly in the dark. He growled.

"Quatermain...?"

"You recognize that name, don't you?"

"Of course... what about him?"

"I want him dead."

They were both silent for a while.

"So... I kill him and you set me free?"

"Yes."

Talley said nothing, he didn't even move. Jones began to worry. Maybe he already knew about Quatermain's... sad passing.

"Say nothing more. I'm with you."

Jones quietly sighed in relief as he said this. He looked at the eyes that shone in the dark.

"Excellent."

Jones turned around and smiled again. After all, Talley didn't have to know about Quatermain's death. He opened the door and put his hands to his neck. He stepped out and looked at the guards. He then unsheathed his hidden knives and buried them deep in their chests. They fell to the ground with gurgling sounds. The patients in the cells around him started to scream again. Charlie came running.

"What's going on? What do you think you're doing?" he shouted. 

Jones took another of his knives, balanced it in his hand and finally threw it at Charlie before he could call for help. Charlie stumbled forwards and fell. There was a sickening sound as the knife embedded itself deeper in him when he landed. His body writhed spasmically on the floor before it was finally still.

Jones walked up to him, put a foot on his arm and pushed him over. He took the ring of keys and went back to the cell to unlock the chains that kept Talley in his cell. Talley didn't look away from Jones, not even to rub his wrists when he was free.

"Are you ready to begin?" Jones asked him while retrieving and cleaning his knives. Talley grinned.

"Just tell me when."


	2. Intruder

The Nautilus lay docked. Everything was still. The guards positioned walked back and forth on their assigned posts, scouting out into the solid darkness. One of them, Raju, one of the youngest ones in the crew, shifted his weight from foot to foot and stared on the streets in front of him. He knew that his work was important, yet he couldn't feel too enthusiastic about it. He sighed and watched the cloud his breath made. He turned to the older man a bit away.

"I'll be back in a second." He said in their native tounge and went towards one of the houses. He walked around it and put the gun down beside him, before he started to fiddle with his belt. He heard someone behind him and sighed.

"I said I'll be back in a second. Can't I have a moment…" he started, but couldn't finish the sentence.

- - -

The old man gave Raju a tired look and raised an eyebrow.

"Back already? That was fast." He said to him. Raju shrugged.

"I said only a second, did I no?"

The old man smiled, but he wondered about the strange change in Raju's voice. Raju walked past him and towards the Nautilus.

"Raju, where do you think you're going?" the old man asked. Raju didn't even look back.

"Inside."

The man frowned and silently readied himself to fire his gun quickly. Something was wrong.

"You still have work to do out here, you know."

Raju stopped and looked over his shoulder.

"I know. I just have to take thing from me… er, home." He said and then continued on. 

The old man glared suspicially after him, but decided it was best to simply leave it be. He would make a fool out of himself for raising the alarm because the boy went to get something. He continued to scout for suspicious things in the dark, but the thought of Raju still gnawed in the back of his head.

- - -

The man who called himself Raju quickly walked down the corridors. He had memorized exactly where he was supposed to go and went that way. He started to hum a melody, but stopped, worried about raising more suspicion than he already did with the clumsy performance outside earlier. He stopped when the corridor branched off into two.

After merely a moments thought, he picked the right one, quickly making his way towards the nerve centre of Nautilus. He prepared the things under his coat while whispering prayers. He found the door to the main control room and grinned, a strange glimpse in his eyes. But he didn't enter yet. He stood still, thinking. Then he looked down the corridor and went through the map he could see clearly in his head. He frowned. According to that, the captain's cabin was very close.

He was torn between paying the captain a special visit and going directly into the control room. He heard voices in the control room, he couldn't make out the words, but the laughter afterwards proved that someone told a joke. He turned around and went down the corridor. He placed himself in front of the captain's cabin door and took up a small knife and a gun. He felt the door, finding that it was open. He heard someone inside, apparently asleep. He opened the door wider and snuck in, leaning forwards like a predator.

He saw someone in the bed, but he couldn't make out anything special about the figure. He felt his heart start pounding faster, but his breath remained calm and silent. His fingers itched. He got closer to the bed by the second.

The remaining guards looked at the old man who went to the place where Raju had earlier gone. The man had made up his mind, thinking there was no harm in checking to see if there was anything weird over there. He disappeared out of sight for a short while, before he came running back.

"Raise the alarm! There's an intruder on the ship!" he cried. The guards on the docks passed the message on, and soon the alarm spread through the ship.

- - -

The man who had earlier called himself Raju heard the alarm. His head snapped up to see if anyone was there. His scouting was interrupted by a punch right in the face. The man stumbled back, stars dancing in front of his eyes, and waved his knife in front of him, hoping that he would hit something.

He felt the captain give him a hard kick in his stomach and doubled over. He readied his gun, hoping that he could shoot the captain the next time he tried anything. He did, however, just hear the sound of a sword being slowly extracted from its scabbard and shuddered. He grinned when he realized that this captain was scaring him.

He hadn't been afraid for years. He forced himself to breath slower, almost making no sound at all. The captain either stood still or moved like a cat. He tried to penetrate the darkness, hoping that he would see the captain before the captain saw him. His concentration was broken again by the sound of running that grew stronger.

"Nemo! Trouble!" someone shouted and opened the door. Light flushed in, blinding the attacker for a moment. He tried to see who was in the doorway and screamed as he saw the black coat hovering in the air.

"Nemo, what's going on?" someone asked and somehow, the light flicked on. The attacker panicked and turned to flee from this… apparition in the doorway. He didn't get far, though. Nemo's sword burst right through him. He stood there, stunned, before realizing he was dying. He groaned and felt blood bubble up in his mouth.

"At last…" he whispered, smiled and fell to the floor.

- - -

Skinner looked at the dead man on the floor, then to Nemo who was hastily wiping his sword on the dead man's coat.

"Did we miss something?" he asked. Nemo gave Skinner's coat a cold look.

"Oh, not at all." Nemo said and glared at the corpse. Skinner took a look on him and frowned.

"What are those weird bumps on his chest?" he said, kneeled down beside him and opened his coat. Nemo hissed a curse in his language when he saw what it was strapped to the man's chest.

Explosives.


	3. Room 8

**Author's ramblings…**

So here I am with a new chapter. Got a lot of helpful hints from the rewievers.

Changes:

Have re-submitted every chapter (except this one, of course) since graymoon74 said it was something wrong with them. Better?

Prologue:

No, Jones doesn't feel a thing. I want him to be a nut.

Chapter 1:

Changed a little about the intruder and made Nemo's line shorter. Hope that his talking is better now.

This chapter is VERY long. Must be because I didn't want it to end too soon. Or because I'm afraid of the following chapters…

- - -

The members of the League sat around the dinner table. Only Nemo and Skinner knew what had previously occurred and was about to break the news. Jekyll had a cup of tea in front of him. Tom Sawyer took small bites off an apple with a tired look on his face. It was still early morning. They all looked at Nemo curiously. Nemo sat still with his hands clenched in front of him. His face was a mask of cold anger and his eyes were sharp. He looked around on everyone and took a deep breath.

"Nautilus was breached this night." He said shortly.

"What?" Tom asked, surprise clear on his face. "Someone came in? I thought you said no one could get onboard without your guards noticed."

"My crew did notice, and that saved all our lives. An assassin came into my cabin, apparently seeking my death before destroying my ship. I have been told that he killed a young guard and stole his clothes, using this as a disguise to get onboard. My guards found the young man's body and raised the alarm, just in time to save us all."

"Even if he had succeeded, how could he have destroyed Nautilus?" asked Mina. "One man can hardly do much harm to her, can he?"

Nemo's eyes flashed. His hands trembled slightly, but beyond that he showed no sign of being so angry. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to say anything for the moment, Skinner answered.

"He had enough firecrackers to blow half of England to smithereens, so to speak. It was more than enough to at least sink Nemo's beauty."

Mina frowned and glanced at Nemo. He still seemed to concentrate on not turning the table over and destroying the furniture of the room.

"So he was after us? Do you know anything about him?"

"No…" Skinner continued hesitantly. "I'm not sure. I checked his pockets to see if I could find anything, but I just found a key."

The sleeve of his coat moved to his side and the pocket bulged out. A key hovered out of it. He tossed it on the table. Mina reached out and took it.

"It seems to be a hotel key. Did you not find anything else?"

"Nothing but some change, and I took the liberty of keeping it, heh."

Mina shook her head and slid the key to Jekyll's place. He picked it up and looked at it. He frowned.

"I recognize this. I can't recall where I have seen it, but I know I have. But you are right, Mina, it must be a hotel key."

"Then I guess we'll have to check the hotels to see if we can find out anything more about this assassin." Tom said and sighed.

- - -

Nemo walked back and forth in his cabin, staring angrily at the furniture. He didn't blame his crew or the dead young man, but still he couldn't understand how the cursed man had so easily slipped through the nets they put up. He grumbled curses. This… murderer had not just only dared to kill one in his crew and enter both his ship and his cabin, he had also planned to destroy her. Nautilus! His Nautilus! He swore to himself that when they found the man who ordered this, he would kill him with his own hands.

- - -

Tom and Jekyll were assigned the mission to find the hotel where this assassin had been staying. Leaving the Nautilus after lunch, they thought they could split up and lessen the time of their search. But since they had only one key and wouldn't be able to keep track of which hotels the other had been to, they stayed together. They entered the first hotel they laid eyes on. It was an old fashioned place, old but charming in its own special way. The walls were in a sickening shade of red. A middle aged man who was working on getting fat approached them with a smile.

"Good day, gentlemen." He said with a broad but obviously faked smile, stuck after years and years of endless smiling. "Do you want a room?"

"Maybe. Is room 8 taken?" Tom asked. The man went behind a counter in the end of the room and looked in a large book. He shook his head.

"No, it says here it's available. Has someone recommended it to you?" the man asked with a heartier smile. Tom smiled back and showed him the key.

"Is this one of your keys?"

The man took the key and looked at it.

"Couldn't be, I'm afraid. Guess it belongs to someone else. Are you sure you don't want a room?"

Jekyll, whose eyes strained from the terrible colour on the walls, quickly declined his offer and made it clear he wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

The next hotel was worse. It smelled strongly of tobacco and the air was hard to breath. A fat woman yelled at someone upstairs between what she said to them. She only grunted and left them when they showed her the key.

- - -

And so they went, from hotel to hotel, but no one they visited seemed to miss a key. They went into a bank once to ask if it was a key that could belong to them or any other bank. When they had made clear it wasn't, they went on. The sun eventually set. Tom groaned, stretched and scratched his head.

"Well, this was a waste of time." He grumbled. "We should get back to the Nautilus and make something useful of the rest of the day."

He turned around, but was stopped by Jekyll.

"Look over there." He said. Tom glanced over his shoulder and saw a house that looked like a café. It seemed to be a very nice hotel. "Mirrored Sun" it said on a sign above the door.

"Should we try a last one?" Jekyll asked. Tom didn't want anything more than to just go back, but he agreed. It couldn't hurt. They went to the Mirrored Sun and were met by some chaos. All over the entry, there were men running, some shouting out orders or moving things. Jekyll had to take a quick step to the side to avoid collision with a man carrying a chair out of the door. They looked around, surprised.

"What is happening here?" Jekyll asked no one in particular. Tom shrugged.

"Beats me."

He stopped a man that didn't seem to be as stressed as everyone else.

"Hi, we're looking for a room, and…"

"I'm very sorry, but I cannot help you right now. I am very busy; I will try and find someone else. Maybe… Adria? ADRIA!"

The last word was shouted. Someone shouted a reply in the other side of the room.

"What?"

"We have guests!"

"But I have two days of work and I have to finish this first! Carl can take care of them!"

"Just get over here!"

The man turned to Tom and Jekyll again.

"She will be over any second. Have a nice stay!" he said quickly and hurried away. They saw a short woman with reddish blond hair come towards them. She wiped her hand on her brown skirt and hurriedly fixed her blouse while muttering something to herself. It seemed she had been working with something; most likely something dirty, since her hair and face was covered in dust. She brushed a strand of hair out of her face and smiled, most likely out of routine.

"I'm sorry about all of this; we're having some… trouble. Nothing that will have any effect on you though! So, do you want a room?" she said. Tom shook his head with a slightly confused look.

"No thanks, but we're looking for a special room. Is this your key?" he asked and gave Adria the key. She took a quick look on it and nodded.

"Yes, it is. It belongs to Mr. Gilding in room 8." She said and frowned. "Where did you get it?"

Tom searched for words, but came to the conclusion that she probably could take some bad news.

"We got it from him, Gilding is dead."

She looked up on Tom with a surprised look on her face.

"Dead? Aw, what a shame. And he was such a good chess player." She said, sighed and took a look at the key. "Now who's going to pay the tab?" she said out into the air and put her hand over her mouth when she realized what she said. She was just about to explain when Tom interrupted her.

"Could we take a look in his room?"

She hummed and looked at him thoroughly. She also took a quick look on Jekyll, who was looking on all the chaos in the room.

"Well… Yeah, I guess. Normally we don't allow it, but I guess he won't complain. Right this way." She said and walked towards the stairs. Tom poked Jekyll on his shoulder and motioned towards the stairs. Jekyll followed them up. Adria looked down on them.

"I never got your names. Mine's Adria."

"I'm Tom, this is Dr. Jekyll."

Jekyll nodded, as if he confirmed it was true. Adria smiled at him and turned to the left in the corridor at the end of the stairs. She stopped outside a door with the number 8 on it.

"I don't think you'll find anything strange though." She said when she opened it. "He was very orderly and never made any fuss about anything."

They looked around in the room.

"Well, at least he cleaned up before he left." Jekyll said. It looked like the room had never been used. They first took a look around to see if there was anything strange that they could see without actually looking. Nothing at all.

"I hope you do not mind if we open drawers and so?" Jekyll asked. Adria shrugged.

"Go ahead."

Tom went to a large desk and looked for things there. He found a small drawing of a boat that was strangely alike the Nautilus, but nothing proved that it was that. Jekyll checked the end tables by the bed. Tom left the desk and opened a large cabinet with a sigh. His eyes widened in surprise when he realized what he was looking at.

"I think I have found something interesting." He said to Jekyll and took up something from the cabinet floor. Jekyll turned around and stared at the containments. The cabinet was full of rifles.

"What have you found?" Adria asked and looked. She took a step back.

"How did he get this in here? He couldn't have! We would have noticed! How did he…?" she blurted and stared. Tom looked on the knife in his hands. It was one of the largest knives he ever seen, and probably not used for stealthy things. There were more strayed over the cabinet floor, covering some papers. He looked at the papers and sighed.

"Someone got their hands on maps or blueprints of the Nautilus." He said and handed the paper to Jekyll. Jekyll skimmed through them quickly and shook his head.

"Well, then we know it was him living in this room. Try and find something about his employer." Tom said and, for some strange reason, began looking for clues in his bathroom.

Adria took a hold on Jekyll's arm and stared him in the eyes.

"You tell me what is going on. What is the Nautilus and what have Gilding done?"

Jekyll glanced at Tom, but he was busy in the bathroom. He made Adria ease the grip of his arm and sat down on the bed. Adria sat down beside him.

"Have you seen the large ship in the docks?" he asked.

"The large one with all the armed men in front of it? Everyone has. Is that the Nautilus?"

Jekyll nodded.

"We, agent Sawyer and I, some of our friends and the crew of course, live on that ship."

"That sounds like a whole lot of people. But, it is a very large ship. But what have Gilding got to do with that?"

Jekyll wondered whether he should tell her or not. But he couldn't get away with not telling now.

"Gilding snuck aboard Nautilus. He killed one in the crew and used his clothes as a disguise. He tried to kill our captain. Had he not done that, though, we would all have died. He tried to destroy Nautilus with explosives."

Adria sat and stared in front of herself. She looked sad. Jekyll wondered is she mourned Gilding.

"Was he a friend of yours?"

She looked up at him.

"We used to play chess now and then. Nothing much. But he was nice. I can't believe he could've done something like that. Or tried to do."

"Did he have many visitors?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. All the time. Some of them looked really freaky too."

Jekyll had to fight to keep a victorious shout down. She might tell them everything they had to know.

"Would you recognize them if you saw them again?"

 "Heavens no. There are people around here all the time. I talk to them and then forget them. Sorry."

She got a worried look on her face and leaned closer to Jekyll.

"I heard that you called him agent. You won't tell anyone about your find?"

Jekyll shook his head. She looked relieved.

"Because if we would lose the hotel… I don't know, I'd end up on the street and uncle would probably die."

Jekyll couldn't help it, but he was deeply moved by the thought of her on the street. He impulsively placed his hand over her.

"I won't tell a soul that can do something to your hotel." He assured her. She gave him a glad smile. He couldn't help but think that her warm smile and almost shining eyes made her beautiful in a classical way. His thoughts were distracted by a crash from downstairs that could be heard through the closed door. Adria frowned.

"I better go check that out. Just leave the key at the desk when you're done in here, ok?"

"Actually, we'd rather keep the key. Just in case, you know?" Tom said from the bathroom. Adria nodded hastily.

"Oh, keep it then. I really have to go." She said halfway through the door.

Jekyll remembered something and quickly took her hand to stop her from leaving. She turned around and looked at him, surprised.

"If anything happens or anyone talks to you about this, just tell us. We'll be back in three or four days."

She smiled nodded and quickly jogged down the hall. Jekyll looked after her for a while and listened to Hyde's voice that suddenly began to mumble in his head. He turned around and closed the door to continue his search.


	4. Pounce

So, here you go! Yet another chapter, fresh from my brain to your eyes. Now I'll just do what every other author do.

Reply to the comments!

Sethoz – Thanks. And the might be some romance and there might not, I'm not giving anything away… And the whole Adria-on-the-bed part was originally supposed to be Tom talking, but I shoved him into the bathroom when the chapter went out of control.

Not that way, though, you naughty mind.

And without further rants, I give you the next chapter.

- - -

Security got much tighter on and around the Nautilus the following days. No one was allowed to wear anything that covered their face, and everyone that did was checked. There was no one onboard that felt a stirring paranoia. They didn't know who they could trust or believe in, apart from their captain and the League. Nemo stood in the control room, beside the man trying to pick up messages.

"Anything yet?" he asked. The man shook his head, and continued to listen. Nemo left him alone and went down to the dining room. Mina was already there, dressed as usual in a black dress and her hair in a bun. She looked at Nemo when he came in.

"I suppose there has been no news yet?" she asked. Nemo sighed.

"Nothing. No attacks, no assassinations, no threats. Not even suspicions. Whoever planned the attack wishes nothing but the destruction of the League."

Mina nodded thoughtfully.

"Unless the assassin was nothing more than a madman looking for a way to make a name for himself. But that is hardly a believable thing. No, I guess that you are right, Nemo. Someone wants us all dead. Maybe someone who intends the same things as Moriarty?"

Nemo sat down at the head of the table as usual.

"A possibility."

As if the last words were his entering line, Skinner came in through the doors and looked at them. He wore his coat, sunglasses and white cream.

"I thought I was late again." He said cheerily and sat down. It was a long pause.

"So…" he continued. "Are you still worried about that thing?"

Mina gave him a cold look.

"Of course we are. No one knows if or when it could happen again. Are you not worried?"

Skinner shrugged.

"Everyone else seems to worry more than enough. Too much in fact. Lay it off a bit, would you?"

Mina kept her reply to herself and sat down on her seat. Out of the kitchen came a wonderful smell that made them so much hungrier. She looked at the door.

"Are they not coming soon?"

Within minutes, Jekyll came in. He greeted everyone before taking his seat. He took a quick look at Nemo and decided it was no use asking about news, there'd be none. Soon after him came Tom. His hair was as usual a mess and he seemed tired.

"Hey everyone." He said shortly and sat down on his seat. "Do you all feel as miserable as I do?"

Skinner shook his head and leaned back. His statement that everyone else was worrying for him seemed to be true. Mina shook her head and sighed.

"We cannot go on like this any further. One assassin should not be able to make us all like this. I say that if nothing happens within the next days, we should pass it like an attempt and nothing more."

There was a silent agreement as some men in the crew came with the food.

- - -

Tom made his way towards the Mirrored Sun. He had a suspicion that Adria would have nothing to say, but he felt a need to make sure and get the paranoia out of his mind. While he walked, he whistled merrily. The sun was on its way down and the streets bathed in its orange light. He looked at the clouds surrounding it and felt calm for first time in ages. He came to the Mirrored Sun with a smile on his lips. An old, sick looking man was leaning out of a window on the third floor, apparently enjoying the sunset as well.

"Hello mister!" Tom said when the man caught sight of him. The man nodded a greeting.

"And a good day to you! Came to rent a room?"

"No, I just came to talk to Adria. Do you know if she's not too busy?"

The man eyed him carefully.

"You sound American. Is your name Sawyer? Would you be that young American fellow?" the man asked. Tom was surprised, but replied.

"That I am, yes. Has Adria told you of me?"

The face of the man became dark red and he got an expression as if he had tried to eat something rotten. He shook at Tom with a cane.

"You know her name, you scoundrel! You're the one that's caused her so much trouble. Away with you! Leave my niece alone!" he shouted and grumbled something as he closed the window. Tom looked at it, surprised. Apparently, the news Adria could tell him wouldn't be that good.

"Agent Sawyer?"

He looked at the door. It was slightly opened. Adria stuck out her head.

"You should leave, Sawyer." She said. Tom noticed that her eye had a black ring around it, someone had hit her.

"This is a very bad time. I'm sorry; you'll have to come back another day."

"I will, I just want to know who hit you and why."

Adria opened the door, went out and closed it. She cast nervous looks around her while she did. She apparently didn't see what she was looking for, so she took a few steps closer to Tom.

"Please, Sawyer. Just go."

"Who hit you?"

Adria began looking around herself again. She seemed to be very nervous. He twisted a lock of hair around her index finger.

"I… I can't say…"

Tom felt like putting an arm around her shoulder and assure her that everything would be okay. Now, he could just stand there and hope that she wouldn't flee.

"You can, believe me. I won't let anything happen to anyone here."

Adria looked up on him.

"You can't be here all the time, and you know it. If I tell you now, he'll just come tomorrow or tonight…"

Tom had to admit that she was right. It was best not to make any promises he couldn't keep. He nodded slightly.

"You're right."

She gave him a look with some strange emotion he couldn't place and went back towards the door. He put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. She froze in a movement, apparently terrified, and Tom smacked his own mental forehead.

"Please, just tell me who hit you. Did you know him?"

It was obvious that she wanted to run away and barricade herself inside the hotel, but she thought about his question anyway.

"Yeah… maybe. I…" she began, but stopped and looked over her shoulder. "Did you hear something?"

Tom listened. A dog barked somewhere.

"I don't think so."

"Hm… maybe I was wrong. No! There it is again!"

Tom tried to hear whatever she heard. He thought he heard a faint growling, but he wasn't sure. Adria glanced at the door.

"Maybe I should go in. I still have some work to do…" she mumbled and only had time to take a step towards the door.

Tom noticed the creature that pounced out of the darkness before Adria did.

"Look out!" he cried and tore her out of the creature's way. She made a strange, muffled noise and staggered away from him. Tom quickly grabbed his guns and peered into the darkness. He tried to listen if there was anything there. He heard panting that died away. Dogs everywhere began to howl and bark. Adria whimpered behind him and Tom turned around, expecting to see her crying. She leant against a wall with her arms crossed over her chest and breathed heavily. Her face was pale and her eyes brimming with tears.

"It… I…" she stuttered. A shiver went through her body. Tom frowned. He felt that she wasn't just afraid.

"Are you okay?" he asked and put his guns back in their holsters.

She looked at him with strange, distant eyes. She slowly removed her arm from her chest and looked at it with a confused look on her face. Tom gasped when he saw her blood covered arm. His look slid down to her torn chest. Her blouse was shred and soaked with the blood that poured out of the four long wounds. He quickly put his arm around her to support her and tried to stop the flow of the blood with his hand. He then tried using his lower arm, pressing it against her. She gritted her teeth in pain, but didn't utter a word of pain. Tom was clueless about what to do.

"Is there a hospital nearby?" he asked her. She shook her head. One thought kept popping up in his head.

_There's no hospital, I doubt taking her inside the hotel would do any good and she'll die without aid._

He looked around himself and then began to half carry; half lead her towards the Nautilus.


	5. Questions and theories

Aargh… There might be some mistakes with speech and such stuff in this one (bear with me, this is the first fan fic I write with all the original characters in it). Also, death to writer's block.

Etcetera Kit – Darn! I knew something was missing! Thanks for pointing that out. Have to fix that in some way. Also, I try as hard as I can to keep Mary Sue tied up and gagged in the closet. Please kick me if I turn Adria into a Mary Sue.

Kill Mary Sue – Hey, there's many good LXG fics without original female characters in them, it's just that mine isn't one of them. It not too much to ask for, but it won't happen. Try reading those fics without original characters.

Sethoz - *whimpers* Okay, okay, please don't hit me, mistress/master…

- - -

- - -

Jekyll washed his hands while glancing at Adria behind him. She lay on a bed, breathing heavily, sound asleep. He had drugged her to ease her pain and be able to do something about her injuries. It was hard, and several times he had been sure he'd lose her, but with some help of a young crewmember who gave her some blood, it had worked. He looked at her reflection in the mirror and couldn't help but think that the last time he saw her, she was smiling and her eyes were more living than a forest in spring. He wondered for a moment what kind of creature could have caused those wounds. He corrected his sleeves and left the room, leaving her to sleep. Outside stood Tom, apparently worried. Jekyll couldn't blame him for that. Tom gave him a curious look.

"Well? Is she…?"

Jekyll didn't know if he meant dead or alright.

"I don't know yet. She is alive for the moment, but we will have to see if she lives the night. But if she does, she will be fine. You got her here just in time."

Tom sighed in relief, brushed some hair out of his face and smiled.

"I'm glad to hear that. Thanks for the help. I was thinking that I should go in and see her, but I guess I'm the last thing she wants to see right now. Good night, Dr. Jekyll." Tom said and turned to go to his cabin. Jekyll turned his way, but walked slowly in deep thoughts. Something harmed a young woman that way because she was talking? She didn't even tell them anything of great importance.

_Maybe it was hungry. Hunting. I wouldn't hesitate a moment to hunt for her…_

Jekyll was startled by Hyde's voice, and the glee in it. He sighed.

"I know." He said, not realizing that he was saying it loudly. "But if something was hunting, why just wound her? Whatever it was, it must have had large claws and enough strength to tear her apart. Sawyer couldn't have been the reason it decided to leave. Why did it leave, Edward?"

Jekyll opened the door to his cabin and looked at his room before entering it. He sat down on his bed and looked in the mirror in the other end of the room. Hyde looked back at him, but said nothing. He had seen blood this evening, smelled fear and pain. He was satiated for the moment. Jekyll lay down on the bed, turned the light off and used this precious moment of silence to get some rest.

- - -

Mina looked over London. She stood on the top of the ship, where Sawyer so often practises shooting. She was troubled. She had escaped up there when Sawyer came with that girl to avoid the sight of her blood. But that wasn't the only reason. Mina frowned and leaned on the reeling. Something wasn't right about that girl. She had smelt something odd on her, something that made her senses revolt. Whatever it was, it had made her want to kill her. To slit her throat and let her bleed to death on a street somewhere. If she hadn't left, maybe she had done just that. She wondered if this attack had something to do with the incident a few days earlier.

"It most likely has," she said quietly to herself. "But I can't seem to figure it out."

"Figure what out, Mina?" a voice said from nowhere. She spun around, mentally preparing herself for battle, but remembered Skinner.

"Stop sneaking up on people, Skinner!" she hissed. She heard him chuckle beside her and saw the small cloud his breath made in the cold air. Apparently, he was standing by the reeling as well, looking at her.

"Maybe some day, but definitely not today. What are you doing up here? It's freezing!"

"Thinking. After this, I believe we desperately need to find our enemies before they can do anyone any more harm."

"So you think this has something to do with us then?"

Mina sighed, frustrated. Why didn't he see what was so obvious?

"Of course it does, Skinner! Think! Why would anyone try to harm a girl that works on a hotel? That thing was out for Sawyer, not Adria. I think it was just an accident that it happened to hurt her."

Skinner didn't reply. Maybe he considered it, but without being able to see his face it was hard to tell.

"So, let's say it was indeed out for Sawyer as you say, what would we do about it? How should we find it if we don't even know what it is?"

Mina could hear in his voice how worried he was. She caught herself thinking how long time it took the stupid man to realize it was dangerous. But she didn't now what to do or how to find it. She sighed deeply and looked at the clouds of breath in lack of other signs that he was there.

"I don't know, Skinner. I wish I did."

Mina heard him drum his fingers towards the reeling.

"Yeah… that'd make things so much easier to deal with, wouldn't it?"

Mina nodded in agreement and looked down on the guards on the street. Most of them sometimes stopped in their steps to stop and admire the crescent moon. She looked up on it and remembered old times.

"I wonder what Mr. Q would have done. That man seemed to have the answers to most things." She mumbled.

Skinner didn't reply to that. Mina didn't know if he had left her to her thoughts, and to her it didn't matter. The thought of Quatermain grew in her mind until it became a pestering tingling. She tried to shake it out of her head to be able to concentrate on more important matters, but failed. She gave up and explored the thoughts. This gave her an idea.

"He was a hunter." She said quietly. She put her hand over her mouth and patted her cheek with her index finger.

"And it was an odd beast hunting Sawyer…"

"What was that, Mina? I sort of drifted away there for a bit…" Skinner said. Apparently he hadn't left, but she didn't pay to much attention to him anyway. She smiled, knowing a possible way out of their problem.

"Mr. Q. He was a hunter. Perhaps that's exactly what we need. A hunter, to help us find this beast."

"What? A new hunter? Are you sure that's a good idea?"

Mina smiled now, still looking out over London.

"I believe it is. What do you think, Skinner?"

This time, he replied almost right away.

"I don't know, Mina. There's a lot of tension right now, and stuff like that. I think that if we would find another hunter and convince him to join, it's a big chance that he'll leave or make someone else do that. Everything's complicated, you know? But if he'd like it here, I guess it's a good idea."

Mina nodded.

"You're right, with all those problems. But do you think it's worth trying?"

"Aw, what the heck. Let's give it a shot and see what happens!" Skinner exclaimed, most likely grinning. But after a couple of seconds, he clothed their newest problem in words.

"But where can we find a hunter?"


	6. Jack Green

Rant. Rant rant rant. Stupid ideas.

Melanie – Hmmm… good idea, but I already have a nice hunter (whom you'll meet in this chapter (dun-dun-dun-duuuuh!)). Just wait a few chapters and I'll reveal the nature of Talley (you'll smack your forehead and call me an idiot, but I won't see it, so go ahead).

This takes place about the same time that Tom is attacked. Roughly. And it might not be good at all, it went out of hand.

I won't be the only one to take the blame for this chapter. My dad and I figured it all out together. Bringing this guy into this fic was his idea! Blame him too. Thanks.

The thing in the end is a bit cheesy, but I'm no good at newspaper articles. 

And thanks for reading.

- - -

He looked in the mirror. His reflection stared back at him. He was pale. Even more than usual, and the light was reflected from the sweat on his face. He concentrated on his bloodshot eyes and frowned when he tried to remember.

_What colour are my eyes?_

He considered touching them, but that he had already tried. He had tried to tear them out of their sockets when those pictures wouldn't leave them. When they played over and over again. He didn't want to remember. Could he remember?

_What colour are my eyes?_

His hair too. It always had been fair. Blond as the most beautiful love god's hair. It had been his pride and joy. Why was it so dark? It wasn't supposed to be dark. And his face. It was weathered and torn.

_What colour are my eyes?_

He whimpered when another picture flashed through his mind. But this one, he recognized.

- - -

_He tore the lid from the crate, swearing when he got blisters in his fingers. He was drunk as usual, spitting and cursing because he'd just been fired. This was a way to get back to that swine of a boss, a way as good as any. He stared with disbelief on the containments._

_Feathers!_

_Stinking ostrich feathers!_

_He removed handful after handful, growling and hissing, spreading them over the floor. He was just about to turn the crate over and smash it to pieces when he saw the little surprise. Among the various African tribe trinkets, was a small crystal. He picked it up, holding it gently in his slightly bleeding hands. It shimmered oddly, illuminating tiny parts of his skin. He was enchanted by its simple beauty._

_He stood there for a long time, admiring the small stone. He touched it gently with his bloody fingers, slowly colouring it red. It felt like it purred in his hands, showing its appreciation of the touch. Soon it brightened his skin in a red hue and almost vibrated in his hands. Something inside him, instinct maybe, told him to throw it away, go home and forget that he had ever been there. He held it closer, obsessed with it by now._

_There was something pulsating within it, as if it was living. He stared at it. The sun rose and a ray of light fell on it, making the crystal shine viciously. There really was something living within it. It was! This scared him more than he thought possible, but once again, his body acted without his mind appreciating it. The part he would call himself watched in horror as his body slowly, almost mechanically, opened his mouth and put the crystal within it. He felt the metallic taste of his blood on it, before he swallowed it._

_Everything went dark around him. It felt like something burning spread out from his stomach to the rest of his body. It concentrated on his heart and head, burning until he was sure he was dying._

_It slowly wore off. When it was no more than a strange tingling, he got up and tried to get home. He felt strange._

_Uncompleted.___

- - -

His eyes were brown.

They were supposed to be blue. Or green. He wasn't sure. He couldn't remember.

"What is my name?" he whispered. He couldn't even recognize his voice. The crystal was still within him, he knew that, like a heavy weight in his stomach.

"What is my name?" he repeated.

_It's Jack._

He frowned. Jack…? It didn't sound familiar.

_It's Jack! Jack! JACK!_

How could it be? He was pretty sure it was something else.

_Not Jack. Not Jack Green. There is no Jack Green._

"No Jack Green…" he repeated with his unfamiliar voice.

_Charles…_

"Charles…"

_Charles Remington. You'll know it soon. Charles._

It was better. It was a good name. It was his name. He knew that. Jack Green? Who is Jack Green?

He looked at the rifle in the other side of the room.

It was his.

He was going to hunt this night.

_Hunt… yes. But something else must happen first._

"What…?"

_Jack Green must die first._

He frowned again. How could someone that doesn't exist die? The crystal in his body stirred, making him nauseous. It punished him.

_Jack Green must die now._

His head snapped hardly to the left. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, his eyes staring out into nothing. The veins on his neck stood out, slowly turning black. He fell backwards and felt his head hit the floor. Thousands of stars were spread out in the room and watched him as his body began to die. He wanted to scream, to let everything out, but he couldn't. He couldn't scream. He could only lie there, feeling his body twist and convulse. His head banged against the floor, his teeth grinded his lower lip. The pain was excruciating, turning his body to nothing but a great, painful burden. But during this whole ordeal, he remained conscious. He tried, but he couldn't drift away. He couldn't flee.

_Die._

Something snapped within him and he felt how his life finally left his body. He continued the painful convulsions for minutes, but they finally began to fade.

_You're dying, Jack Green._

He stared. His eyes began to get glassy, like dead eyes do, but he still saw out of them. How could that be?

_You will not be allowed to go until I say so. Your soul may leave this body, but not until you surrender your mind to me. Surrender it._

He forgot all and finally slept.

- - -

The body got up from the floor. Its lip was no more than a bloody mush, his throat and face was still covered in blood. The man looked at his hands in amazement.

"I'm… alive…" he said. He knew his voice. He looked in the mirror. That was his face! His face! He knew it was!

"I'm alive."

He said it as if he just had to confirm it. He ran his fingers through his hair and checked the bristles on his face that'd been there for days. He nodded with a smile, pleased.

"Alive."

His face got a worried expression and he pressed his hands against his stomach. He would've felt if the crystal was still there. It wasn't. He was indeed alive and free. He had much to thank his friends in the Dark Continent for.

He glanced at the rifle in the corner. He picked it up and felt its weight. He couldn't believe how much he had missed this. He looked at the crescent moon and grinned.

Hunt.

Charles Remington was alive.

- - -

A few days later, everyone in London was afraid to leave their homes at night. When the sun set, worried mothers called in their children and glared suspicially at everyone that went by. It had only been a couple of days, still gunshots had often been heard at nights and twisted bodies had been found at morning. All newspapers wrote about it.

"SILVER MURDERER" LOOSE IN LONDON

Several victims have been found in London, all killed by a silver weapon or by critical damage on their spine, neck or head. All victims were found on open streets, all varying in age, sex and race. The police have no tracks.

- - -

So, now that you know him… this guy belongs to whoever owns The Ghost and The Darkness. Well, not me anyway.


	7. First Impressions are Important

Hello again.

Sorry that you had to wait for so long, my computer has been a bitch.

**Sethoz** – Thanks. And you should be confused, I think, it didn't really make sense to me either. I wrote it to get him into the story, but I feel a bit sorry for doing that to poor Jack.

**Clez** – Ooh, many comments! Glad you liked Skinner's line J. "Two words that combine to make one…" *takes note* And people tell me there's nothing to learn off the net. Railing? Strange, Microsoft Word told me that reeling was right. Oh well… thanks for pointing that out. English is just my second language. Does it show? Two persons like chapter 6! This makes me so happy! I am so very happy!

But I won't torment you any longer now. J

- - -

Tom leant against a wall in a hall inside the Nautilus. He thought about Mina's suggestion. She had made it days ago, and he had promised to think about it. At first, it had seemed to be a crazy idea. The League could last on their own, without a replacement for Quatermain. But the more he thought of it, the more he believed she was right. After all, it was a creature out for him.

Selfish.

Out for _them_, of course.

He sighed and cracked his fingers before he began his search for Mina. He had to tell her she was right. One of the bad parts about the Nautilus. It could take hours to find someone.

- - -

Jekyll checked Adria's pulse and temperature. Her pulse was steady now, but she seemed to have a light fever. He put a thermometer in her mouth before he began changing her bandages. He couldn't help but think he was doing something wrong when he did it, and he always saw enough skin to make Hyde wish for more. He removed the bloody bandages and checked the wounds with a puzzled look.

_She sure has good healing flesh…_ he thought when he saw how remarkably fast they had healed. He took the new ones and just put them over her chest when he realized something.

Hyde was quiet.

Normally, it would've been a pleasure, but now it was just unsettling. There was an almost half-naked woman in front of them, why didn't he give him bad advice?

_Can't last a second without me, can you?_

Jekyll shrugged, trying to simply not talk to Hyde. When he had put the bandages on and washed his hands, he couldn't help but look at Hyde's picture in the crane.

_Why bother, Henry? You know, or should know, as well as I do that there's something wrong about her._

"Because I'm a doctor. I can't turn anyone away because of what you say, Edward."

While he said it, he glanced at Adria. He was worried about her. And, in another way, almost afraid of her. He was both glad and worried about her strange sleep.

_You can say it was an accident…_

Adria's eyelids flickered. Jekyll didn't notice that the water still poured over his hands. His eyes wandered to the drugs in the cabin.

_Just a little too much. C'mon._

She gasped sharply and stared at the roof. After a couple of seconds she took out the thermometer of her mouth and looked at it, surprised. She put it down on the bed, her eyes darting back and forth in the room. Jekyll slowly turned the water off and sat down on the end of the bed, to calm her down. Hyde went from trying to convince him to taunt him angrily. Had Adria been asleep longer, he might have let Hyde be in charge for a little while.

- - -

Mina slowly walked down the street, back towards the Nautilus. She had much to think about, the assassin, the creature, the hunter, Adria… Too much to do it onboard while keeping an eye open for Skinner. Of course, she was a bit overconfident in her own strength to be out all alone with all of this hanging over her head, but it was a beautiful night.

"Hunter… hunter…" she muttered to herself, not really paying much attention to her surroundings.

"Hu…"

Her head snapped up, her eyes widening when she recognized the smell. It was the same she had felt on Adria a while ago. She tried to find whatever it was that smelled like that while her eyes reddened. Something moved a little bit away from her. Thinking it was another creature this time after her, Mina stepped back into the shadows. The creature stepped out on the street. Mina couldn't really make out any details, but she saw that it walked with its hands almost touching the ground. Its legs seemed to be bent in strange ways. But what surprised her was its size. Almost as large as Hyde. But this particular beast seemed to be afraid or awaiting something's arrival. It looked around itself, sometimes lifting its head to sniff in the air. Mina made herself ready to attack it when something struck the wall next to them. With a shriek the beast fled, quickly disappearing in the dark. Mina remained in the shadows, wondering why it smelled just like Adria did.

"Son of a… wrong bullets! I knew I should have put some kind of mark on the box, I just knew." Someone grumbled a while away. Mina leaned out from her hiding spot and glared at the darker spot on the street. It seemed to be a man holding a large rifle, grumbling curses to himself while he reloaded it. Mina couldn't help but to become curious about this man. She tried to make out some details, but had to retreat to the shadows behind her when the man looked up. He growled something and raised the rifle to his shoulder. He stood like that for minutes, just waiting.

"I know you're there, beast!" he called. Mina unconsciously slowed her breath down, trying to make as little noise as possible.

"Go on! Attack! I'm giving you a chance here!"

She wondered what he was doing. He couldn't hurt her anyway. She let herself get less careful and took a closer look at him from where she was standing. He didn't move. Just when she was about to take a step out of the darkest shadow, another bullet hit the wall. A cloud of dust shot up. Startled, Mina snarled quietly and took the step back again. She heard a victorious laugh.

"Seems like I got you exactly where I want, eh? You can run, I'll chase you down and kill you, I swear. Or you could get out of those shadows and attempt to rip my head off and die in battle, it's your choice."

Mina rolled her eyes and stepped out on the street. She crossed her arms and glared at the figure. He took a step closer to her.

"Aren't you even going to try?"

"Not at all." Mina said loudly, making sure the armed man heard every single word. "Unless you are serious of course. You will actually give me a chance to get over there and kill you?"

The man lowered his rifle.

"You're not one of them. You don't feel right. But you do…"

He gasped and made a quick movement. Suddenly, there was a knife in his hand. Mina raised an eyebrow.

"Do you have a death wish?" she asked.

"I have a feeling my guns aren't going to do much good anyway."

Mina grinned, more to frighten him if she could see her than because she found it funny.

"Something is very, very wrong about you… You smell like death." The man growled.

"And what do you think that you smell like?"

They stood like that for a long time, just glaring at each others silhouette. The man finally spoke again.

"Tell me what you are!"

"You should know, assassin!" Mina scoffed.

"Ha! I knew it! You must be working for them then! Let's just find out exactly what you are!" the man cried and lunged at her with his knife. She only had time to grasp her own knifes before she heard the familiar sound of a gunshot. The bullet burrowed itself into her stomach, sending her to the ground. She gasped for air, awaiting the familiar tingle of healing. She saw the man look down on her with a satiated grin on his face and the smoking gun in his hand. No familiar sensation, just incredible pain.

_What's wrong?_

The man leaned down and let the tip of his knife rest on her throat.


	8. Reaching out for help

**Sethoz** – Thanks a lot! I'm so happy now!

**Clez** – Here you go J

- - -

Tom scratched his head. He had been all over the Nautilus, but Mina hadn't been anywhere to be found. He wondered how many times he had missed her by a second. He saw that he was close to the control room and stepped in, thinking that Nemo might have seen her.

"Captain Nemo?" he asked loudly. He saw him in the other side of the room, looking out of a window, probably deep in thought.

"Agent Sawyer?" he said without looking back. Tom squirmed a bit. Being around Nemo always made him feel like he was back in school, in front of the most imposing teacher.

"I just came to ask if you have seen Mina around. I have something to tell her."

"I believe Mrs. Harker left some time ago." Nemo replied.

"Oh… how long has she been gone then?"

Nemo glanced at Tom over his shoulder and said something to one of his crewmembers. He quickly replied to his captain's question. Nemo looked at Tom with a strange glint in his eyes.

"For hours." He said, simply and calm as usual. Tom, on the other hand, seemed frightened by this information.

"Hours…? Something must've happened!"

"I can send out a group of my men to search for her, if that would make you feel better, Agent Sawyer."

Tom shook his head.

"I can go look for her."

Nemo didn't reply for a while, just looked at Tom. Again, Tom got that feeling of school.

"That would be most unwise."

"But who knows what trouble she…"

"If she has problems and you go out there alone, Agent Sawyer, you will just get into the very same trouble."

Tom glared at Nemo for a while before deciding that he was right.

"Alright, send some of your men then, but…"

"Captain!" the same man as Nemo had talked to before called. He had a strange expression on his face.

"I think you need to hear this…"

- - -

The man in front of Mina put some pressure on the knife. She felt a small drop of her blood trickle down her throat. She glared at the man with her teeth tightly clenched so she wouldn't unwillingly make a sound of pain. She tried to focus all her willpower on healing the wound in her stomach.

"Seems like someone got just a bit too cocky…" the man scoffed. Mina slowly reached for her knives but found nothing where they should be. She realized that the man must've taken them and snarled at him. The man leaned a bit closer, probably to get a better look on her.

"Vampire, eh? Seems like you never know what you can find in London these days. Oh my, aren't you pretty? I mean it, I've never seen a corpse so… well preserved." He told her and then chuckled, apparently happy with his joke.

This infuriated Mina. Pictures of his death wandered trough her mind. And, while she wasn't ready for it, she felt a light tingle in her stomach. She knew that he would notice that she was healing unless she kept him busy with something else. She relaxed and pressed herself against the street, trying to give him the impression that she gave up.

"What do you want from me?" she said in a almost depressed way.

"I want to know where your kin hides!" the man growled with a new shimmer of rage in his eyes. "I want you to tell exactly where it is and how to get in, and you'll damn better do it happily!"

The pain was as good as gone. Mina kept her act up and tried to put an expression of fear on her face now.

"I… I…" she stuttered and let her eyes dart from side to side, as if looking for help, while she carefully slid her hand towards his knife.

"I… I can't!"

The man rolled his eyes.

"Oh please. Like they wouldn't betray you! Now tell me!"

Mina got a feeling he wasn't talking about the League at all, but she couldn't drop the act now. She sobbed loudly and shook her head. He mumbled a curse. While he was busy with that, she snatched the knife from him and quickly sliced two long wounds in an X across his stomach. He screamed, most likely more out of surprise than pain. Mina got up on her feet and looked at him, wanting nothing but continue slicing until he was no longer recognizable. Instead, Mina kneeled down beside him, took his gun and put the edge of the knife against his throat while gently pressing down on one of his wounds. He gave a short yelp that she guessed was the beginning on a cry.

"This wound is not at all deep enough to be fatal." Mina stated calmly. "I could make it fatal, however, simply for revenge. You should be very grateful that I don't plan to."

"Just kill me and get it over with, vampire!"

Mina leaned on another wound on purpose. She didn't put much weight on it, still he clamped his eyes shut and gritted his teeth.

"No."

The man slowly opened his eyes again. He looked at Mina for a while before he relaxed; apparently realizing that he was beaten.

"What do you want then, vampire? An easy meal?"

Mina caught herself thinking it was a good idea. She wondered if she would just drain him right there and then.

"I want to know what you meant, why you tried to kill me and what you were hunting."

The man either chuckled or coughed, she didn't know.

"You really don't know much about your kin, do you?"

"I guess not." Mina said with perfect control of her voice while pressing down with her thumb. After a short shriek of pain, the man gave her a dark glare and began to talk again.

"I thought you were a vampire in their service. I've seen a few of them around when I hunted."

"'Their'?"

"The lycanthropes."

Mina didn't understand at first, and then it hit her. The creature she just saw, the creature outside the hotel, Adria's smell…

Adria's smell…

"Werewolves…?" she whispered, staring out in the darkness ahead of her.

"Yeah… werewolves, a few vampires and God know what… I've killed a couple of them for fun until I get enough cash to get back to Africa again."

"So you're the silver murderer." Mina said without actually caring. One thought kept passing through her mind.

_We might have a werewolf on board._

"I guess." The man said before his head snapped backwards and he breathed in with a sharp gasp. Mina realized that he was bleeding. She could hardly leave the help she'd been looking for bleeding on a cold street. She helped him up on his feet, trying not to look at his bloody shirt.

"You can help me with something and then I will let you go. Acceptable?"

"Help you with what…?" he asked, with an almost nauseous look on his face. Mina guessed he found her touch repulsive.

"I believe we have someone infected onboard. You have to take a look at her, and if that is the case, tell us what to do." Mina explained while leading him towards the Nautilus.


	9. Difference in opinions

Rant

I'm not all too happy with this chapter, but since this is all my broken brain decided to cook up, it'll have to do. Add salt if needed.

- - -

The crew soon discovered the strange couple slowly making their way towards the Nautilus. Mina looked up on the magnificent ship and truly felt calm for the first time that evening.

"There she is," she told the man she was supporting. "A beauty, isn't she?"

The man looked up. He gave the ship a long look, as if he weighed and measured it. He then nodded.

"Quite nice."

Mina was about to begin walking, when she felt that he took a hard grip around her arm. She 

looked at him angrily.

"If there's anything odd going on in there, vampire, I'll slit your throat." The man growled while glaring at her. She understood that he only tried to mend some of his hurt pride, but it was admirable that he still had the power to act mighty when he was in such pain.

"There won't be any need for that. And I'm trying to help you, the least you can do is to be at least a little grateful."

"Well, thanks…" the man muttered as they moved again. Mina saw soldiers talking to each other, apparently spreading the word. She gave one of them an appreciating smile before she helped the man onboard.

"Mina! We were beginning to worry here." A voice said. She looked at an empty coat hovering in mid-air.

"I hope I wasn't gone for too long."

Skinner chuckled.

"Not at all! Sawyer and Nemo were just about to turn London over, searching for you. Someone will be very happy. And who's your friend?"

Mina looked at the man who was staring at Skinner's coat, apparently amazed. She realized that none of them had introduced their self.

"I don't know, actually."

Skinner's coat made a strange movement and a sleeve reached out towards the man.

"Hello! I'm Skinner."

The man looked at the sleeve, raised his hand as if he was going to shake it, but then seemed to change his mind.

"Am I supposed to shake the sleeve…?" he asked. Skinner didn't move a muscle.

"There's a hand at the end." He said with a very serious voice. Mina turned her head away and smiled, not wanting Skinner to see it.

"Oh." The man said and hesitantly tried to find the hand. It was strange to see him shake hands with empty air.

"There you go! As I said, I'm Rodney Skinner, gentleman thief."

"I'm… Charles Remington."

Mina wondered about the pause before he gave his name away, but didn't have time to ask.

"Well, nice to meet you, Charlie. I think I'll go tell Sawyer and Nemo that you're here." 

Skinner said before he turned around and walked away from them. Remington continued to stare at the apparently empty coat for a while before he grinned.

"That's one of the nicest talking floating coats with hands I've ever met!" he said. Mina laughed quietly, wishing she could've seen the expression on Skinner's face if he had heard it.

- - -

Mina and Remington walked in through the door to the large room where most of the wounded and sick men were placed. Right now, Adria was the only one in the room, asleep as usual. Mina looked around in the room, trying to find Jekyll. She noticed him standing by the drug cabinet, staring at the contents. He stood with one fist tightly clenched and with a syringe in the other. She could see that his entire body almost unnoticeably shook. She wondered for a moment if he really stared at the contents.

"Dr. Jekyll?" she asked loudly. Obviously startled, he quickly turned his head towards her. She saw his fearful expression on his face before it disappeared in a nervous smile.

"Mrs. Harker!" He said and quickly put the syringe down on a nearby table. "I just gave her something to calm her down. I didn't hear you coming."

"I could tell." Mina said in an unwillingly cold way. Apparently, he didn't notice. His nervous grin gradually grew more natural. Mina motioned towards Adria with her head. He gave Remington an examining look. His eyes locked on his bloody shirt and he hummed loudly.

"I can see you've already seen the reason why I'm here. I think you can take care of this yourselves." Mina said and helped Remington to one of the beds. She stretched afterwards, glad that she could walk straight again. Jekyll saw her bloodstained dress and raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"You bled?"

Mina looked down on her ruined clothes.

"I did, but I think Mr. Remington can explain why much better than I can." She said with a glance towards him. Remington shrugged.

"I just shot you. Could be the silver bullets, how the heck am I supposed to know?"

Mina nodded.

"That could explain it. But as I said, you can take care of this. I better go change and prove to the rest of the gentlemen onboard that I am alive and well." She said and left. There was a tense silence between Jekyll and Remington for a couple of seconds.

"Well…" Jekyll started and cleared his throat. "I think I'd better examine those wounds of yours. You don't mind?"

Remington shook his head and began to take his shirt off in the least painful way as possible. When he got it off, he carelessly threw it on the floor. Jekyll immediately began tending to his wounds, ignoring Remington's almost embarrassed look.

"They seem to be clean." Jekyll said, mostly to himself. Remington snorted, as if insulted.

"My weapons are always clean! I'm no damn butcher."

Jekyll gave him a strange look, but continued to aid him.

- - -

Remington leaned over Adria and looked at her. He looked at her bandages, where Jekyll had shown where her wounds were. He sometimes mumbled things to himself, dragging his fingers over the bandages and crouching or stretching into strange position, always with one arm out. Jekyll watched him, curious against his will. Remington had claimed that 'the vampire' had told him to examine a girl. Jekyll stood there, watching him to make sure that he didn't do anything obviously wrong with Adria. Remington continued with his strange charades for a while, before he turned to Jekyll. He had new lines in his face that made him look older than ever, but his eyes shone as if he had a fever.

"Everything points to one thing, Dr. Jekyll. I just have to do one more 'test'." He said and took up one of his guns.

"What are you doing?" Jekyll asked. Remington smirked.

"Nothing you have to worry about, I assure you."

He took out a bullet from the gun and held it between his thumb and index finger. He took Adria's hand and dropped the bullet in it, immediately stepping back from her as he did. In the same moment the bullet touched her skin, Adria's eyes opened wide and a scream of agony escaped her. She threw the bullet away as she bolted out of her bed. Remington seemed to be ready to shoot her any second while Jekyll could only stare at her. Her face seemed to be rage embodied, with her yellow eyes flaming towards them and her teeth changing into frightening fangs. She snarled at them, before her malicious expression vanished as she put her hands against her head. She became much less fearful, now grumbling in an almost confused way before she collapsed on the floor. Remington put his gun back in its holster.

"Whatever you gave her to keep her calm, it sure was effective." He said and grimaced in pain. He placed a hand on his bandages, covering his stomach.

"But, ow…"

Jekyll tried to help her, but was stopped by Remington, who put a hand on his shoulder, forcing him back.

"I'm sorry, doctor, but you shouldn't go anywhere near her."

Jekyll glared at him.

"I can't just leave her on the floor. I have to check that she's alright!"

"Trust me, doctor, she is. That little scorch wasn't enough to hurt her that much."

Jekyll turned to Remington.

"What was that? Her eyes, her teeth, those sounds and the bullet! What's wrong with her?"

Remington sighed, looking away from Jekyll's face.

"What is it?"

"She's a werewolf, Dr. Jekyll, no doubt. A man-eating beast!" the last sentence was spat out with a glance towards Adria on the floor. Jekyll stared at him.

"Werewolf…? Mat-eating beast? Does she look like a man-eating beast to you?"

"Maybe not now, doctor, but didn't she just a while ago? She will be a lot worse in just a couple of days, you know."

Jekyll looked down on Adria with a sigh. Somehow, he simply couldn't imagine that lively girl from the hotel to be a monster. And still he had seen her, just a moment ago.

_Told you so, didn't I?_

Jekyll kept his reply to Hyde to himself.

"Is there a cure?" he asked Remington. Remington shrugged.

"I don't know, I just know the right ways to kill these beasts. And that's just what I advice you to do."

Jekyll didn't reply. He looked at Remington's face, trying to decide whether he was joking or not. He could tell that he was dead serious about it.

"Absolutely not!" he said loudly, it was almost a shout. "I worked for hours to save her life, and I won't let anyone come in here and even think about that!"

Remington frowned at him.

"That isn't the only reason, is it?"

Jekyll had nothing to say.

_Is it, Henry?_

"Shut up!" he hissed and realized the second after that he had said it out loud. Remington didn't move a muscle, just stood there, looking at him. Jekyll looked back.

"Hey, if you're all set in here, we've…" a voice said. Skinner, now wearing coat and make-up, stood in the doorway, looking at Jekyll and Remington.

"Did I miss something interesting?"

"Do you have something important to say?" Jekyll snapped at him. Skinner nodded slowly.

"They wanted me to tell you that they're waiting in the dining room."

As soon as Skinner had said this, Jekyll left the room. Remington glared at his back before he looked at Skinner.

"So what happened here?"

"We had a difference in opinions." Remington said and mumbled curses for a while. Skinner looked at Adria with a puzzled look on his face.

"Okay… Why is she on the floor like that? Why aren't you wearing a shirt?"

"Damn it! Why can't people just see what's the right thing to do? But oh no, they have to go and make things so complicated all the time…"

Remington seemed to notice Skinner being there for the first time.

"Aren't you going to lead me to the dining room?"

"Shouldn't we help her?"

Remington glanced at Adria and shrugged.

"You do that if you want to. She might just tear your guts out."

Skinner gave up.

"Right this way…"


	10. If not better, then faster

I think my chapters get worse and worse… I'm still figuring out the details. Don't judge me too hard, please. I apologize for the cheesy end.

**Clez** – Not really. It's still just simmering.

- - -

Talley burst through the door, ignoring it slamming into the wall. He walked quickly towards Jones' desk and slammed his fist against it. Jones looked up on him.

"Do you mind? I'm working, Talley."

Talley gave him a sarcastic grin and swept the table clean of all papers and other things. Jones calmly put his pen down and gave Talley an uninterested look.

"Alright then, since you ask so nicely. What do you want?"

Talley's eyes flamed and he clenched his fists.

"Quatermain is dead! _Dead_! You promised me that I could kill him with my own hands if I did your dirty work!"

"What's the problem? Then your work is already done, isn't it?"

Talley crossed his arms and wished that Jones could at least raise his voice. It was hard to shout at someone that didn't shout back.

"You have absolutely no excuse why I should continue working for you now! My reward is gone! You've been lying to me this whole time!"

Jones picked a paper from the pile on the floor and began drawing circles on it. Each one was perfect and he didn't even look. He looked at Talley's face, hardly blinking.

"So why are you here then? Shouldn't you be out on the streets, eating rats by now?"

"I'm here to hear your reason."

Jones frowned.

"What reason? Why I lied?"

"No…" Talley said and leaned on the desk, staring intensively at Jones' face. "Why I shouldn't kill you before I leave."

Jones didn't move. He didn't even seem to react. But Talley had grown used to his cloaked reactions. He could see the momentary glimpse in his eyes. Jones' circles were less perfect by now.

"You're serious." Jones said. Talley nodded with over exaggerated movements. It twitched in the corner of Jones' mouth. He put the pen down on the paper.

"I see."

There was a long pause. Talley straightened up, now looking down on Jones in an attempt to seem large and imposing. Jones didn't raise his eyes to meet his gaze, he stared at the wall behind Talley.

"And I who thought you were intelligent."

Talley raised an eyebrow.

"You're so upset because your 'reward' is dead, the one you were going to kill anyway. You storm in here and threaten me. I have rewarded you all along, before the real work even has begun and the work you've done so far only have been moderate."

Jones stood up, staring at Talley with his cold eyes. Talley glared back, determined to seem to be the stronger.

"Are you blind? This house, my home, which I offer you like you were my brother. Food. Clothes. Protection from the law, hunters and others of the sort. The chance to kill someone who almost was Quatermain's son, a chance you screwed up. You've been in a cell for years, and complain when you get a place like this? How many else would take in a _thing_ like you?" 

Jones said. He never raised his voice or changed tone. Talley continued to look at him for a few moments before he looked away from him. He sighed deeply, realizing that Jones was right.

"Maybe you shouldn't have hired a madman." Talley snarled, trying to rescue or gain some respect. "Besides, I've been bored to death for days. Do you have anything for me to do?"

Jones bent down and searched through the pile of papers. He gave Talley the ones he'd been looking for.

"Try and get in touch with them. I have written exactly what I want you to do when you find them."

Talley took the papers and retreated from the room, suddenly ashamed of himself.

- - -

Remington looked at the faces around the table. The vampire Mrs. Harker, Dr. Jekyll and Skinner he already knew to the name. He looked at the dark skinned man and the blond one and wondered who they were. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of weird people these were. He had a great desire for a shirt.

"So, Mr. Remington." Mina said. "Have you taken a look at Adria?"

He frowned, trying to remember who Adria was.

"Oh, that girl! Yes, I have."

Everyone looked at Mina. She seemed to be able to look back at all of them at once.

"I guess I should explain before we continue, shouldn't I?"

"Yeah, we'd like that." Tom replied, looking from Mina to Remington. Mina placed her hands on her knee and sighed.

"While I was out on my walk, I encountered a strange beast. Thinking it was the same beast that hunted Agent Sawyer, I hid in the shadows to avoid battle. This beast was very imposing and I thought at first that it was nothing natural to England. But that very minute, Mr. Remington here scared it off with a shot."

"Wrong bullets… still can't believe it." Remington grumbled.

"I thought he was an assassin trying to kill me this time, and he thought I was some creature out for him. Needless to say, there was some violence there. He told me the creature I saw was a werewolf."

Tom frowned.

"That can't be, Mina. Werewolves don't exist."

Mina rolled her eyes.

"Wouldn't you have said the very same thing about vampires a few months ago?"

Tom seemed to have something to say, but he kept it to himself and looked down in the table.

"I assumed that a werewolf had tried to kill Sawyer, and therefore wounded Adria."

Only Remington noticed Jekyll's glare at him before he quickly looked away. He continued Mina's story.

"So she took me here to get my scratches seen to and that I would examine Adria, was it? And I'm sorry to say that she is infected." He said, the last part almost being something he threw in just to be polite.

"Can she be cured?" Nemo repeated Jekyll's earlier question. Remington told him the same answer he had told Jekyll.

"Can't the effects be slowed then?"

"Possibly, I really don't know much about them."

Skinner leaned back in his chair and let his head rest in his hand.

"So we're chased by werewolves now. Weird, I never imagined that those childhood fears were real. But what really surprises me is that they use explosives." He said out in the air, probably not expecting anyone to listen to it.

"So they are after you? Any specific reason?" Remington asked.

"We don't think so." Tom answered. "Is it? One day, they just started it."

No one said anything for a while.

"But, that seems to be pretty normal around here, I guess…" Tom continued.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Remington asked them.

"Seek those werewolves out, of course." Mina said with a sly look on Remington.

"So you're going to help me wipe those vermin out? Great, I guess I could use some help. If it's not better, at least it will be faster." Remington said with a grin.

"Let me be the first one to say; Welcome to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen!" Skinner said cheerily. "Let's drink to that!"

Remington looked at him, puzzled.

"League? Please, Coat, explain…"


	11. Talon

A Talley-only chapter with memories and some hints and stuff. It was meant to be more but I thought it ran sort of long. We'll put more focus on the League later on, m'kay?

**Clez** – Here you go then. Always glad to be of service.

- - -

Talley took a quick look around himself. There weren't many people around the exact spot. Apparently, their instincts told them to steer clear of it all. Or maybe they simply didn't have much business there. Talley opened the murky door and took a quick look at the sunrise before he went inside. The inside was almost as decayed as the front. The small room had only a table and an empty bookcase. It dripped water from a hole in the wall. Talley groaned loudly and wondered why all the 'interesting' people lived at such terrible places. He closed the door behind him, noticing how the room went pitch black. While he waited for his eyes to accustom themselves to the dark, he felt the unmistakable feeling of cold steel against his throat.

"Hello." A deep voice said behind him. Talley didn't wait for more, he quickly grabbed the man's wrist and twisted it while he reached back and took a tight grip of the man's collar. With two movements, he stood snarling at the man who was pressed against the wall. The man snarled back and gave him a violent kick in his groin. Talley grunted but didn't let the man down. Light spread through the room.

"There, there now! No need to be so violent, Eric." Another voice said. Talley glanced at the old woman with a lamp in her hand. At first, he didn't notice anything strange. Then he understood that he only saw the top of her body. She stared at a woman who was halfway stuck in the floor. She smiled at him.

"Could you put Eric down, please?"

Talley slowly let Eric down from his grip. Eric rubbed his wrist and picked his knife up from the floor with a grumble. Talley ignored him and looked at the woman. He saw now that she stood in a hatch in the floor.

"What's your name and your business here?" she asked. He smirked. Short and concise. Good lady.

"My name is Talley, and my business is none of yours. I'm here to speak with your leaders."

The woman raised an eyebrow.

"Our leaders? There are no 'leaders' here, this is no cult."

"Of course you wouldn't put it that way. Can I speak to them now?"

The woman grinned and looked over his shoulder. Apparently Eric did something, since she nodded.

"Come with me then." She said and disappeared down the hatch. Talley took a second to look back. Eric was nowhere to be seen. He looked up in the roof and saw him crouched on a ceiling-joist. Eric looked down on him, smirked and lodged the knife into the joist with a movement that told that it had been done almost daily. Talley turned around and went down the hatch. He came down into a tunnel with damp air. The woman stood ahead of him, apparently waiting for him.

"Took your sweet time." She stated.

"I had to say goodbye to Eric."

"You didn't kill him, did you?"

"He was out of reach."

She smiled grimly and turned around, going down the hall. Talley followed, looking around himself. There was something strange about the stony walls. He couldn't place exactly what though.

"Underground. Intelligent." He said.

"It keeps us away from prying eyes." The woman said without looking back.

"Of course."

They continued walking for about 5 minutes. Talley noticed how the halls seemed to be built to be perfect for ambush. They came out into a large hall, lit by old-fashioned lanterns and, at some places, fires. Talley looked at the large crowd below him. There seemed to be people of all ages, sizes and races there. Some had made groups, sitting together in corners or under pieces of cloth hung up to give the impression of small homes. Talley gave them a critical look and glanced at the woman. She shrugged.

"It's a kind of home."

"I'm sure. How can this place be so large?"

She smiled.

"Ancient secrets. London has been here before the 19th century, you know." She said. Talley began to walk down the large staircase. It seemed to be big enough to let 15 men walk side by side down it. Some people glared at him when he came down. He could smell sweat, blood and human filth. He realized that they were all dressed in clothes that were tattered and torn at best. He stopped at the base of the stair, staring out into the crowd.

There were so many…

He began to make his way through the crowd. Some he bumped into, some stepped out of his way. At places, a small path was made for him. He came out into a clearing of the human forest. He looked at the tree persons on a bench while he listened to the talking crowd around him. Only one of them noticed him. A young man who seemed to be in his early twenties stared at him. Beside him sat a woman about thirty, listening to a man who apparently told her some story. The young man got up from the bench (which seemed to be the only one in the entire hall) and walked up to Talley. He was at least a head shorter than Talley. Talley looked at his torn clothes that might have been colourful once and smiled. The young man glared at him. If there had been silence, it would have been the perfect picture of a battle of will.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"I want to speak to your leaders, boy." Talley replied. All colour disappeared from the man's face. He pressed his lips together so they made a thin line. He turned to the woman on the bench who were now saying something to the man, patting him on his shoulder while she did so.

"Talon!" he called. She looked up on him and noticed Talley. She frowned, before her face broke up in a smile that almost seemed to be recognizing. She gracefully got up from the bench and came towards the man and Talley. Talley looked at her, wondering why he recognized her.

"What's this, then? Another one comes to join us in our home-made misery?" she said before she laughed quietly. She stroked a strand of black hair out of her face. "Well, if you're here, you've already hit the bottom."

"I'm not here to join you." Talley replied coldly. "I'm here to give you an offer."

"Offer?" she repeated and raised an eyebrow. She glanced at the young man and smiled. 

"Offer? Did you hear that, Javier? He comes all the way down here to offer us something."

Javier grinned at Talon and said something quietly. She nodded and he left them. Talon looked up on Talley again.

"What are you here to give me?" she asked. Talley looked at the crowd around him.

"Isn't there somewhere more private where we can talk?" he asked. He thought that he saw an enraged shine in her amber eyes, but her smile didn't face. She took his hand and began leading him through the crowd. He looked back and saw that as soon as they left, people occupied the bench. She took him to a rickety shack, apparently the only building in the hall. She moved a piece of drapery and invited him into the gloomy room. She lit some candles before she sat down on a pile of mattresses. She looked at him.

"Speak."

Talley looked at the small light on the candle and took a deep breath. There was something unnerving about being in the same room with this woman that seemed so familiar.

"My employer has a nice offer for you. He is willing to give all that wants it here protection, shelter and food. He owns a large piece of land in America that he will let you live on, cattle for you and large homes for you to stay in at cold nights." He said, mostly to get it done with. He met her gaze and a shudder went through his body. She looked surprised.

"Someone is willing to give us this?"

He nodded, suddenly unable to tear his eyes away from her.

"What's the catch?"

"In exchange for this, he wants your strengths and abilities. Your loyalty."

"So your 'employer' knows about our… affliction?"

"That's the reason he offers you this."

She leaned back on the pillows again and nodded. She looked at a spot on the floor. When her attention wasn't focused on him, he let his eyes run over her, noticing every detail. He couldn't remember when he had last seen a woman like her.

"Does that mean that only those that can fight for him is allowed there?"

"That's what he had in mind." Talley replied, assuming that she would refuse. To his surprise, she smiled.

"Good. I think my clan needs some thinning out. I will have to gather those who are able to fight and tell them about your employers offer."

"What kinds of creatures do you have here? Just werewolves?" Talley asked.

"Humans, werewolves and a few vampires. Why?"

"Just curious… How long will it take you to gather all you want to bring?"

"About 15 minutes, I guess. It depends."

Talley nodded, still shivering slightly. The damp air was driving him crazy.

"Then I will wait out in the sun, if you don't mind. I'll be right outside the door on the surface." He said and moved the piece of drapery out of his way.

"But I do mind, Gregory Talley." Talon purred behind him. He froze in his step, staring out on the crowd. He slowly let the drapery slide back on place and turned towards her. She was standing now, looking at him with a slight smile.

"How do you…?"

"Know your name?" she interrupted. "I remember it, Greg. How do you think I'd forget?"

Talley stared at her, trying desperately to remember who she was, if he even knew her. Her face awoke something deep within him; something he thought had died in the asylum.

"I don't know you…" he whispered. She nodded slightly.

"I understand if you don't remember, Greg. In fact, I'm surprised that you even remember yourself after all these years, that you didn't go feral."

"How do you know me then? How can you know my name, where I have been?"

She looked down in the floor. Talley thought she looked so lonely, so abandoned by all, that he almost wanted to comfort her.

"I know where you have been because one of my clan mates kept an eye on you all these years. And your name…" she said and the smile crept back into her face, igniting a flame in her eyes. "… I remember your name because you made me. Because you wanted to hear it all those nights. Every. Single. Night."

Talley stared at her, she stared back. He tried harder to remember her. He went through his memories, trying hardest to remember lovers, whose names he had whispered and screamed all the lonely nights. There was no lover he could remember that even reminded him of her. He thought about all other experiences in life. What little education he got, his first job, his first kiss, when he got married for the first time…

_Wasn't there…?_

He frowned, trying to reach that faint memory. As if a plug had been pulled simply by attempting to remember it all, the memories washed over his mind.

_"I thought she'd never arrive! Mr. Talley…"_

_The middle-aged man in front of him, the leader of the expedition, put his hand on his shoulder and turned him towards the docks with a smile._

_"May I introduce to you, the guide's helper on this journey, Ms. Veronica Carter."_

_Talley looked at the woman who was coming towards the ship and gasped. She struggled with her bags, apparently muttering curses while trying to carry them. Talley stared at her and reminded himself that he was a married man. A married man. She looked up towards the ship, grinned and waved. He hesitated at first, but waved back. Beside him, the leader chuckled._

_"She's beautiful…" Quatermain said. "…isn't she?"_

His eyes widened in surprise. He stared at the woman he thought he would never see again.

"Veronica…?" he whispered, astonished at the fact that he remember. She nodded at first, but then broke out in laughter and threw herself in his arms and kissed him violently. He put her arms around her, kissing her back as violently while his body reminded him that he hadn't had any human contact this intimate for years. When he leaned back from her to get some breath, she grinned and broke free from his embrace.

"So now that you remember my name, let me remind you what kind of a relationship we had…" she said in a quiet and incredibly arousing way. He took a hard grip on her arms and kissed her again while pressing her down on the mattresses.


	12. Short chase

**Clez** – Glad you liked it!

This chapter is quite like everyone else. I guess this fic is not like any else I've written (it contains more kisses than all other combined!).

- - -

Tom was freezing. He stood in an alleyway, shivering, and rubbing his arms in an attempt to regain some warmth in them. It was the third night out now. They had spent all those nights, trying to find the werewolves or any clues to where they were hiding. So far, they had only walked around. Skinner claimed he saw something once, but it might as well have been an unusually large cat. He began to think that the attack was just an once-in-a-lifetime event and that the werewolves didn't have anything against them. He leaned against the brick wall and put his rifle down beside him. He looked up on the stars. On cold nights, they did seem to be unusually bright. He smiled to himself when he thought about Skinner. If Tom was freezing, imagine how cold it must be to him. He sighed and wished that he was reading a book in his warm bed onboard the Nautilus.

"Cold, isn't it?" a masculine voice said. Tom immediately tore his rifle to him and looked around, trying to find the owner of the voice. There was no one and nothing there. Tom immediately thought of Skinner.

"Skinner?" he asked loudly. Memories of Moriarty's invisible man surfaced.

"No… I'm not Skinner, whoever that could be. But I would like to know your name before I give you mine." The same voice said. Tom tried to see something that could give the man away, a movement or something.

"My name is Sawyer…" he said hesitantly. He heard a laugh, almost like someone was making tiny bells ring.

"Sawyer. I like the way that sounds. So, you have given me your name, so I shall give you mine. I am Leo."

Tom felt strange, as if it was something important about his name, something he had to know.

"Could you show yourself, Leo?" he asked.

"Why, I am already as exposed as you are."

"Alright then… where are you?"

Again he heard that laugh. To his horror, something touched his hair. He looked up and met a pair of dark brown eyes. The man smiled down at him, hanging on the wall as if he was simply resting on a floor. Tom stared, not believing what he saw.

"Do you find this disturbing? If you do, I'll be glad to come down."

Tom nodded slowly and watched the man crawl down. He crawled like an odd predator, crouched down. He got down on the street and brushed his clothes off with elegant, smooth movements. Tom continued to stare, but now more out of amazement than shock. The man was so enchanting. He looked up at Tom again and smiled.

"You sound like an American." He said. Tom nodded.

"I'm from the American secret service."

The man nodded slowly.

"Secret service… Sounds very important. But then, I guess only an American agent would get the idea to go out on a cold night and stand all alone on a dark street. May I ask why you're here?"

Tom realized he was just about to tell him. He shook his head.

"Sorry, but it's a secret." He said, pained that he had to disappoint the man, but he just shrugged.

"Should've known, shouldn't I?" the man said and leaned closer to Tom. He looked at his scarf.

"That one is nice. I like how the colour contrasts to your skin. Is that wool?"

Tom looked at his brown scarf and wondered where the contrast was, but he took it off and handed it to Leo.

"I don't really know. It was a gift."

Leo examined the scarf closely.

"Well, it seems to be wool. Ugh, it reeks of garlic!" he said and tossed it over his shoulder before he looked up on Tom again. Tom wondered how he could think that it smelled garlic, Nemo's men hadn't served anything with garlic in it for days.

"You look better without it actually."

Tom felt to his surprise that he was blushing. He quickly looked away from Leo. His head was forced back towards Leo by his gentle touch on Tom's cheek. He kept his face unusually close to Tom's.

"I can't believe it, you're blushing! How sweet! I ought to talk to Americans more often."

Tom tried to reply, but only stuttered and realized that what he was going to say what actually stupid. He found himself grinning like an idiot instead. Leo leaned closer and gave Tom a light kiss on his mouth. Their lips were actually just brushing against each other, but to Tom, it was the greatest feeling he ever had. His lips were ice cold. Leo leaned back again and took a long look at Tom.

"You liked it." He said. Tom nodded and was awarded with a longer kiss. He dropped the rifle on the ground and could just stand there, enjoying the moment. Leo stopped kissing him on the mouth and continued down, the cheek, his jaw, his throat. All the time, he didn't care that Leo's breath was as cold as the grasp of death. He felt his lips against his throat. And then… something… else.

"You might feel a slight sting…" Leo murmured. Tom accepted it, leaned his head back and closed his eyes. The moment was interrupted by a roar, muffled as if he heard it from a long distance. Leo was suddenly torn away from him. Tom woke up of his trance with a gasp and looked up on Hyde's imposing figure. He snorted at him.

"Idiot." He growled before he turned his attention towards Leo again. Tom looked at him and saw a red-eyed creature hissing at him, exposing his fangs. Hyde roared again and ran towards Leo, who seemed to understand that Hyde wasn't an easy enemy to tackle at all. He snarled loudly before he leapt up onto the wall and began crawling upwards like a spider. Hyde stopped underneath him and tried to reach him, but he was already far out of reach. Leo looked down at him and laughed loudly. Tom could only stand there, frozen, looking at him. He couldn't make himself shoot at this beautiful creature, even if it did try to kill him. Leo got over the edge to the roof and made a victorious half-bow towards Hyde and Tom. He turned around and disappeared. Hyde listened more closely. Wasn't that voices? He turned towards Tom.

"Shoot it! It's right up there!"

Tom knew that he should, but he shook his head. Hyde made a frustrated growl and stared at the shadows on the roof. In the matter of seconds, they heard a loud cracking noise and something came down, speeding against the ground. Hyde stepped out of the way for the shadow and watched it land on its feet.

"Bitch!" it shrieked. They could hear it was Leo's voice. Hyde immediately took a tight grip around his neck and squeezed. Leo tried to wrestle his way out of the trap, but began slicing and stabbing Hyde with long claws when it didn't work. Hyde looked at something behind Leo and grinned widely. Leo stopped fighting for only a moment and was rewarded with a sickening liquid that was forced into his mouth. He swallowed it out of reflex and coughed.

"Gaar…" he gurgled, losing the rest of the word in violent gags. Hyde dropped him carelessly on the ground and looked down on him, squirming and groaning. He slurred something before he violently threw up and collapsed on the street.

"Nasty." Skinner said and threw the empty vial over his shoulder. Something poked the unconscious vampire between his ribs.

"Makes me wish I had a stick I could poke him with."

Mina appeared out of nothing and took a criticizing look on the limp body.

"Just a beast. Mr. Hyde, will you assist me by helping our guest to the Nautilus?"

Hyde grunted, obviously unhappy with being ordered around, but he took up the vampire and flung him on his shoulder.

"Why don't you two find Remington and tell him we're done for tonight." She said to Tom and Skinner before she and Hyde vanished. Tom took up his rifle and cleared his throat, embarrassed.

"So," Skinner said. "I saw that you got yourself some loving."

"You _saw _it?!" Tom almost screamed. Skinner laughed and slapped Tom playfully over his shoulder.

"Of course I did! It was nice to watch you get some attention from someone, but I think you chose someone with the wrong kind of fetish…" he said and burst out into laughter again. Tom tried to push him but simply couldn't find him, so he walked away, blood red in his face and muttering to himself. Skinner came close after, still laughing.


	13. Leaving England

Sorry there's been such a long time, but I have a good reason! We have re-installed our computer, so it hasn't been feeling too good for a while. This is just something I made up to get a chapter done, hence the crapness.

But there's good parts too! I got to think more about the plot (damn that vile woman!) and enjoy other activities besides the comp. For an example, I spent a lovely day with Bored of the Rings and got to play some Jedi Academy (whee!) while I waited for the internet to work. 

So, please don't hurt me because of this chapter.

**Clez** – Why, thank you! I'm so glad to hear that! :)

**Funyun** – I always like to surprise people. About gay, I'll let this chapter speak for that. Poking was inspired by my brother, he likes to poke stuff. Especially at morning... *grumbles something that you're not supposed to hear*

- - -

Jones took a criticising look at the line of men and women in front of him. He seemed to weigh and measure them all. He glanced at Talley.

"Are you sure these are all that will come?"

Talley shook his head.

"You'd better ask Talon about that, it's her clan." He said and pointed at the woman in front of the line. Jones motioned her to come to him.

"Are these all?"

Talon nodded.

"These are everyone capable of fighting that wants to come."

"How many of each species are there?"

Talon took a quick look at her fighters.

"About 15 werewolves, 3 vampires and 75 humans. There might be some I was unaware of too."

Jones hummed, looking at the line again. They were looking back. Apparently, they were just strong thugs. He wondered how he'd train them. He caught a glimpse of something he didn't like. He slowly walked up to a dark skinned man with his arm around a woman's shoulders. He gave him a rebellious look. Jones looked down beside him at the woman. The woman looked down on the ground, possibly afraid to meet his gaze. She kept one arm protectively around her round stomach.

"Talon? Is this what you call 'able to fight'?"

Talon sighed.

"She will give birth any time now, possibly even on the boat. She is one of the best ones we have, even if she's not much good right now."

Jones turned around and allowed Talon to glare at him.

"And the child, Talon? I suppose that will be no problem at all?"

"Even if you forbid me to, Mr. Jones, I will take her with us. She will fight when the time comes, and I will personally take care of the child if required to."

Jones sighed. How come he always got the complicated ones?

"Fine. Just get on the boat. We'll be leaving shortly."

Talon began to lead her fighters onboard with a victorious smile on her face. Talley quietly got up beside Jones.

"I couldn't find the last one you told me to find, Jones."

"I did. Don't worry about him, Talley. He's already in America, we just have to recruit him."

"That's the hard part, you know."

Talley glanced at Jones and saw that he was smiling. Hardly more than a twitch in the corner of his mouth, but that was much when it was Jones.

"Everything is so wonderful." Jones said, as if he had noticed that Talley was wondering. 

"You have done your work well, I have my soldiers and a base. As soon as those 'people' are killed, everything will be as good as complete. Absolutely wonderful."

"You never really told me what you want to achieve with all of this, Jones. World domination?"

Jones shook his head.

"No, no, Talley. I only have one true goal with all of this that I wish to achieve, the rest would just be luck. Otherwise, I was planning to wait and see where this takes me. But the world domination part doesn't sound too bad." He said with a dry laugh. He walked into the boat. Talley remained on the docks, remembering what had happened the last time he got onboard a ship. He wondered if he wouldn't be better off running away. He sighed and slowly got onboard.

- - -

Leo wondered why he was upside down.

Then he noticed that he was awake. He slowly opened his eyes, looking around himself. He was in a large room, all steel and pipes covered in frost around him. There were men surrounding him, pointing spear-like things at him. Harpoons? He ignored the question he asked himself and looked at them one by one. He was famished and he still had the sickening taste of garlic in his mouth. He tried to lure one of them to him, giving them the impression that he was calling for them personally. A pair of them lowered their spears and one took a few steps forwards towards him. His wide grin faded when he saw that they were stopped by their comrades. Of course. He heard two people talking right outside the door. One voice he recognized. He snarled loudly, making him cough and almost choke when he got more garlic bitterness in his mouth. The door opened and the cursed vampire woman from the other night came in. Behind her came an Indian, calling the men out of the room. The woman stood there, right in front of him, glaring at him while the men left the room. She was silent all the time. When the last man had left, slamming the door shut behind him, she cleared his throat.

"Do you know why you're here?"

"Because I've been a bad boy?"

He was rewarded by a slap. It hurt more than usual. He grinned at her.

"Oh, I see. Interrogation? When will you start punching, cutting and burning me with cigarettes? Seriously, what do you think I could possibly tell you about anything? Look, I'm so damn sorry I kissed your American, but I was hungry. And I still am." He added. She didn't reply. She just stood there with her hand on her side and looked at him. Leo began building up a shimmer of trustworthiness around him and cautiously tried to make himself more physically appealing in her eyes. He then smiled broadly.

"I think this is all just a great, big waste of time, honey. There are so many other things that we can do, you know? I don't think anyone would be heartbroken if you just let me down and forgot to lock the door. I swear on my immortality that I will leave, not touching anyone you don't want me to. What do you say?"

He could see that she wasn't swayed. Not a bit.

"Do you really think that would work on me?" she asked. He shrugged.

"Always worth a try. It did after all work with the American, what was his name…? Sawyer, that's right."

She had slapped him before he saw that she moved. The sides of his face hurt.

"Could you _please_ stop that?!"

To his surprise, she did. She stopped, stood still for a moment and then smiled at him.

"Of course. I think I should leave."

He looked after her when she walked to the door. He couldn't help but wonder if maybe his trick worked after all. She opened the door slightly and turned towards him, that eerie smile still on her lips.

"I'm not doing this to be nice, Leo." She said coldly and left the room. Leo hung there, listening to the sound of his own breath. The chains were starting to be very cold and uncomfortable. He saw the door opening again.

"Ah! I wondered when you'd…" he started, but trailed off when he saw who came in through the door.  
  


"Oh, no…"

Remington put a large bag down on the floor, leaned on the door and looked at Leo. Leo looked back, trying to hide his nervousness and fear behind a blank mask.

"Leo, is it?" Remington asked. Leo nodded.

"Sawyer seemed reluctant to talk about you, for some reason, but at least I got your name. I think you know who I am. I have been chasing your kind for a long time now."

"Can't be that long…" Leo said quietly. "You're just obsessed. For crying out loud, we've done nothing to you! Go find something else to hunt!" he continued, almost screaming at the end. Remington's expression didn't change a bit.

"You've done nothing to me, that's true. But what about everyone else? All the people you and your kind have devoured? You should know I have absolutely no respect for those that hunt creatures that can't put up a good fight. Therefore, I intend to destroy you."

Leo began to shiver in the cold. He was used to cold, but this was too much. Being put up in front of the man who had slain some of his clan mates was frightening. He considered using his charms against this man, but gave the idea up. The female vampire was probably ready to stop that and he could barely muster enough of his energy to keep this man from noticing a lie.

"I… want to know where your kind hides. No matter how much I have to go through to find out, you should know I will do it. Now. Start speaking." The murdered hissed.

Leo opened his mouth, but remembered Javier. If he told this murderer about them, he would be doomed. He closed his mouth again, pressed it shut, and shook his head. Remington sighed, shook his head and opened the bag he brought.

Leo could only stare in terror.


	14. Alliance

Hey everyone.

This chapter is pretty shite, since I don't know exactly what to do now. Apologies about that. And there won't be another for like, one or two weeks. I've got a dress to make, a musical to act out in five days and some weird sickness right now (HATE fainting in public!).

So, check back here after some time, if you're still interested.

**Clez** – I didn't mean for that to be slashy, but I couldn't think of another way for them to catch little Leo. Sorry.

**Fynyun** – Indeed. That's all I have to say.

- - -

Remington stepped out of the ice room with one of his hands clutched around the other. He was bleeding heavily, grunting curses every now and then. Mina looked at Remington in a questioning way.

"Done already? I didn't even hear a whimper."

He shrugged.

"At least he was smart enough to shut up. But that bastard _bit_ me! Here!" he muttered and held out his hand. Mina saw the two large gashes in it. She cleared her throat and tried to concentrate on anything else but the view of his blood.

"So what did he tell you?" she asked him as she began leading him back up to the hallways.

"Nothing really interesting. He gave me a promise that he'd lead me to their hideout. I guess he gave up so easily because he hasn't 'eaten' anyone in some time."

Mina nodded and awaited the most likely thing he'd say. He didn't say it until they were close to the medical room.

"You know… I think you and the rest of your League handled yourselves quite well against a vampire. And you have spent several nights hunting them with me. Perhaps you would be useful in a place crawling with those nasty critters. Would you like to join me in my crusade to wipe them all out?" he hesitantly asked. Mina didn't reply for a while. She assumed he only asked because he didn't know how many creatures were in their lair and he could use some help.

"I will ask the others. I am not the only one to make decisions." She replied, her mind already set.

Adria looked at the book that Jekyll had given her. She didn't admit that she couldn't read that well, and had only smiled. She had quickly looked it through and realized she couldn't read half of it. The other half didn't make much sense. She didn't even know what the book was about. She sat on the small bed, looking at the wall in the other side of the room. She was bored out of her wits! She didn't have permission to leave the room for some reason, but there was too much to see on the other side of the door to accept that rule. At first she had tried to find another door, and when she didn't find one, to persuade the guard outside the door that was there. He had just said something in some language she didn't understand and gently pushed her back into the room.

"Boring." She said quietly and searched the book for pictures. She lay down on the bed and groaned. She covered her eyes with one of her hands and sighed deeply. It was like she was in prison. She raised her hand from her eyes again, and saw something strange. She turned around so the light shone onto her hand. She examined the strange red mark in her palm and wondered what she could have burned herself on. She had a faint memory of something… something metallic. When she tried to think more closely, it was like she ran into a mental brick wall. She gave up her tried when someone came in through the door. She looked over her shoulder.

"Hello doctor."

Jekyll nodded towards her and opened a small cabinet. He picked out two large rolls of bandages. She curiously looked at the other man that came into the room and sat down on a chair. He held his hand in a tight grip. She tried her best to keep her eyes away from his wounded hand, but her eyes kept sliding back towards it. She saw that he glared at her and she looked down on the floor, blushing.

"Is there anything interesting about it?" he growled.

"Oh, no, no… I was just curious. Sorry. Very sorry." She quickly explained and grinned widely in an attempt to look friendly. Apparently it was the wrong move.

"Do you think that this is funny?"

She quickly shook her head. He glared darkly at her for a moment before he muttered something under his breath. Jekyll quickly did what he could about Remington's hand before he stepped back to signal that he was done. Remington got up and stretched. His eyes fell on the book beside Adria's bed. He looked at it for a while, surprised, before he gave Jekyll a disapproving look.

"So you don't have the guts to tell her yourself, doctor?"

Jekyll didn't meet his gaze.

"I thought it was a good way, that's all."

Remington snorted and left the room. Adria gave Jekyll a puzzled look.

"Tell me what?"

Jekyll took out his small pocket watch and began rubbing it with his thumb.

"Don't you have any questions about the book?"

Adria sighed deeply, feeling like it was a chore she hadn't done.

"Actually… Doctor… I can't read it. I'm sorry." He said hesitantly. He gave her a surprised look.

"You can't read?"

"I can read! Just not very good…" she said, her voice trailing off in the end.

Jekyll nodded and opened his watch. Then closed it. Opened it and closed it again. As if he examined if it could do different clicks. He nodded again.

Click.

He looked at her as if he had something to say to her, before he looked away again.

Click.

He raised his other hand to his head and gently massages his temples with his index finger and thumb. He sighed shakily, as if he was about to have a fit of rage or a nervous breakdown. He quickly brought his hand down, as if trying to hit something. He sharply hissed something and closed his eyes. Adria looked at him, worried.

"Is everything alright?" she asked. His head snapped in her direction and she could see some strange glimpse in his eyes.

"No." he said weakly, as if it he had to struggle to say it, and left the room. She heard his watch click one more time before he suddenly began saying strange things to himself, pausing every now and then, as if he got an answer. She heard it disappear down the corridor. She sat motionless on her bed, wondering what had just happened. When she didn't really understand, she picked up the book and tried to read the title.

"Crea… creatures of… Er… the ni-igt. Night. Creatures of the night." She said. She noticed that the silk ribbon some used as a bookmark was in a special place in the book. She opened those pages and tried to read the topic title.

"We… we are? No, were… werewo…"


	15. Screams of pain

Woohoo! A chapter up earlier than I had thought. Rather proud of this one actually... Especially the part in the end, which is a bit violent. Anyway, have a good time reading it, I had a good time writing it!

**Funyun** – Thanks. No, Adria didn't do anything to Remington, he probably just don't like her kind much. Yanking bandages... why didn't I think of that? Stupid me! And about the slave thing... huh? What?

Enough 'bout that, here's the story.

- - -

- - -

_Talley cocked the rifle and looked around him, trying to notice anything unnatural about the dark. That was what the leader of the whole damn expedition had told him to keep a look-out for. Something unnatural. The man smirked bitterly, thinking that the entire place was unnatural. What kind of creatures would've done those things they had seen? The bodies, the 'art', the blood…He leaned against the mountain wall which was covered in runes and primitive art. One of the reasons they had come to that accursed place was to try and decipher the meaning of these scribbles. He thought they were just doodles made by some mountain child. And the other reasons… He smiled to himself and untied his pouch by his waist. He took out a large stone by the size of a normal hen's egg. He watched it gleam in the light from the torches. Colours danced over his face. He could almost taste the profit already._

_"Greg?" a voice said beside him. He turned around, startled, while he cursed his own stupidity. Hadn't he been told already not to become so preoccupied with something that he couldn't keep an eye on his surroundings? When he recognized the face before him he sighed in relief._

_"Veronica, you shouldn't scare me like that."_

_"Why not?" She asked, smiling while she put her arms around his neck. "I thought you wanted me to be as mysterious as I like. And don't look at me like that, I know that doesn't mean that I'm allowed to shout 'Boo!' whenever I feel for it."_

_He smiled and gave her a quick kiss. She looked at him, disappointed, when he had broken it._

_"That's it?"_

_"Yeah, I have to keep guard."_

_She shook her head and kissed him again._

_"Do you see him over there? John? He can keep and extra eye open during your 10-minute pause, hm?"_

_Talley knew it was against all he had been told, but he couldn't let this pass him by. This was just the second time that she had lured him away from duty. He smiled at her and led her away towards his tent. As soon as they had come inside, she threw herself into his arms and began to kiss him hungrily. He didn't waste a second on plays, he began unbuttoning her shirt while answering her kisses. All the while, his wife's face before his mental eye. The picture made him feel nervous, almost frightened. He worried that he felt too queasy to satisfy her that night, but her presence alone seemed to arouse him. When she dropped the blouse on the ground, he realized that it wasn't his wife that made him feel like that._

_"What is it?" Veronica asked him. He hadn't noticed that he had stopped his loving handling of her._

_"I… don't know." he replied. It was almost like they were short on time. "Get your clothes on."_

_"What? But, Greg, I…"_

_"Put it on! For God's sake!" he snapped at her. She stared at him, but put on her blouse again._

_"Is it me? Look, if you react like this because of your duty, I…" she began, but Talley hushed her._

_"It's not you. It's something else."_

_Seconds after, a terrifying shriek filled the air. It was soon followed by a vicious howl. Orders, frightened screams and battle cries sounded._

_"Get your rifles, for fuck's sake!" someone shouted._

_"Stay here!" Talley told Veronica and got out of the tent. He was greeted by a view that would haunt his mind forever. He saw the members of the expedition slaughtered by demons, creatures that seemed to be cross between blood-thirsty wolves and men. The members either fought for their lives or adorned the ground with their blood. Talley stared for a long while, before he fired his rifle at a near-by beast._

_The remaining time was hazy for him. It was like his entire existence had always been to fire as much as possible and then for some reason steer clear of their claws completely. It could have gone on for 10 minutes or for 10 hours, for all he cared. He was only aware of one thing. All he could care about was to stay alive. Until he heard something else. _

_Another thing that haunted him._

_The woman's scream._

_"Veronica!" he shouted, turning towards his tent. She lay there, impaled on a creatures claws, staring up in its face. Her face was a mask of pure fear. He ran towards them, aiming his rifle against the beast's head. When he pulled the trigger, his treacherous weapon only clicked. Knowing he could not avoid impact, he jumped to hit it as high up as possible and maybe knock it off its feet. He slammed into it, hearing bones break, though he couldn't feel if it was the beast's or his own. The creature rolled when it hit the ground and seemed to be up on its feet before it had landed. Talley lay gasping on the ground, every breath hurting. The beast leaned over him and seemed to grin devilishly at his pain. It raised its paw-like hand into the air and with a swooping motion…_

_"Greg!" Veronica screamed._

_…slashed his chest. Before the pain reached his dulled mind, the beast was gone. He stared at the moon._

_"They're retreating!" someone shouted victoriously. Talley stared at the moon, which stared back. A head blocked it._

_"Greg…" Veronica whimpered and rested her head upon his stomach, too tired and wounded herself to help him._

- - -

Talley was torn out of sleep. He looked around himself, panicked, before he realized it was just a dream.

Just a dream and nothing else.

Veronica, or Talon nowadays, lay beside him. She smiled in her sleep. He looked at the four scars, small rings, in her shoulder. Those scars that were memories of the day she was cursed. He put his fingers to the four scars on his chest. He could for some reason still remember how much it hurt. Veronica mumbled something and stretched out. He kissed her on her forehead and closed his eyes. He knew that he wasn't able to go back to sleep now, but it was soothing to lie there, feeling the ship rock and his lover's heartbeat against his own.

- - -

Javier looked down on the ship, Nautilus apparently. He couldn't help but like the way it reflected the faint light. He leapt off the roof, landing almost soundlessly on the street. He immediately stepped into the shadows. He looked at the guards protecting the only open entrance. There could hardly be more than 15 there. He smirked.

_Too easy_, he thought and crouched down to come up with a plan. He had heard Leo's screams for hours the previous day, felt his pain, and he was not going to rest until he had saved his loyal brother or avenged his death. He looked at the guards again. They gave the impression that they were ready for almost anything, but he could tell that few, if any, had seen a vampire in action. He grinned wildly and summoned his shadows. They crept around him, each embracing him in turn, quickly turning him into a space of pure dark in the night. With this giving him a temporary shield and the element of surprise, he advanced.

The guards soon realized that something was wrong, he assumed. There was uneasy babbling in a language he didn't understand. He ignored it, planning to enter the ship with his rage saved for the responsible of him being there. He saw a scarred man step forward with a gun in his hands. He only shook his head lightly. But when the shot came, he cried out in surprise and pain. The shadows around him crumbled and disappeared. He gritted his teeth, pressing the pain down and letting his fury empower him. The guards flocked around him, all ready with their guns. He hissed at some that came to close. When the second shot came, he decided to lose what little control he had left. He cried out in rage and pounced on the nearest guard. He gave him a quick punch over the face, hearing bones crack. The moment after he let his leg shoot out, possibly breaking someone's knee, while he let his fingers turn into deadly claws. He spun around, letting the claws shred whatever flesh they could find. A blade severed the flesh in his back, he rewarded the attacker by plunging the claws deep into his eye sockets. He made a high leap into the air, quickly looking at his opponents, how many there were left. He snarled loudly when he landed, knowing his eyes were like lanterns of blood. He put his fingers into someone's mouth, felt the man's tongue against his fingers before he tore his jaw off. He made another acrobatic leap, spreading his legs out this time. He felt them collide with something that broke beneath them. When he landed, there were no more attackers. He let his claws become his fingers again and looked around himself. The carnage was unbelievable.

"My best work so far." He noted, smiling to himself. He looked down on a man. He held his hand on his knee, making small whining sounds. Javier leant down, gently removing the man's hands from the wound. His bone pipes stuck out through the skin. The man stared at him, probably too terrified to move. Javier slowly shook his head.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk… That looks very, very bad, you know? I don't know any surgeon that could do anything about that, do you?"

The man simply looked confused.

"No, of course you don't. Let me help you." Javier said and quickly pulled the man up on his legs. He screamed in agony, trying to get down on the ground again. When he realized that Javier wouldn't let him, he tried to put all his weight on his healthy leg. After being punished by Javier for it, he stood up as straight as possible, tears streaming down his face. Javier smiled.

"There you go! Good as new! Now, you look good enough. Relax now…" He smiled and leaned his head slightly to the right. The man stared emptily out into nothing, while Javier's fangs pressed against his skin. He whimpered slightly when they broke it and Javier began draining him. He pushed him away when he was satiated, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. The man lay on the ground, twitching spastically for a little while, before finally he was still. Javier took a loose grip on the knife in his back and pulled it out with little effort. He looked at the bullet holes in his stomach.

"Hm. Silver. Bastards." He said calmly before he brushed some dust off his clothes, straightened them and entered the Nautilus.


	16. Brothers

Sorry it's taken such time. Really. If you find anything wrong with spelling or so, blame Windows XP. Damn thing won't install the correction thingy.

**Funyun** – Thanks, thanks a lot! Yes, Javier has a small part in the chapter "Talon", he's a vampire. This is rated PG, maybe I should raise that? Is that really necessary for that? Tell me what you think. Dontcha worry, Talley and Veronica are still important. The dream is a part of their backstory, an expedition where they were infected. And that infection is the curse. About the slavery thing... please tell me what that has to do with this. I've tried to figure it out, but to no avail. No, I'm not american, I'm swedish. Does it show? :)

And now, yet another chapter of my fic. Feel free to comment or flame.

- - -

- - -

Javier kept himself hidden in a dark corner. It was impossible to sneak through the lighted corridors of the ship with only his shadows to help him. He wished for a moment he possessed the powers his brother had before he quickly bolted to the next dark spot. The light made him feel uneasy and he was startled by every little sound. He was not hunting on his own ground this time. He licked some blood off a finger to get a little encouragment before he took a deep breath and snuck out into the light again.

- - -

Mina wrote her name under the long text. She read it through one last time, nodded and threw it in the trash-bin. She then leaned her head on her hand and sighed deeply. She simply couldn't concentrate on anything. She wondered if maybe she should... go out for a while? She considered it before she noticed the sound. She turned against the spot where the sound seemed to be stronger. Crickets? No, she told herself. It grew stronger with every second, she could feel it inside her head, somehow. She looked up on the ceiling. What was that noise? Without warning, the full attack came, it exploded in her head and struck her to her knees, whimpering. To herself, it felt like she screamed. She could suddenly hear every little sound, the engines, two guards talking, a pen against a paper... It felt like thousands of small, squeaking creatures crept around in her head. She gritted her teeth and pressed her hands against her ears. She wondered if it might be her vampiric side demanding to be fed, but she couldn't feel any of the usual hunger. She could almost feel the small creatures move, chew the backside of her eyes. She blinked away some tears and saw, to her great surprise, that the door was opened. She got up from her chair and took a few unsteady steps towards the door. She could feel the 'noise' decrease. She sobbed loudly in relief and continued to walk, each step becoming more secure.

- - -

Adria also felt something unusual. She lifted her head from the pillow and tried to determine what it was she heard. It was... insects? She shook her head and sat up. It defenitly wasn't insects. She concentrated on it, uncoinsciously taking long, quiet breaths. It was almost like... voices... She realized that she was sniffing the air, trying to find something, most likely. She stopped, wondering why on earth she would have done that. She got up from the bed and put her ear against the door. She grinned when she heard a guard whisper something to the other one, then she had to press down a scream. She knew the door was to thick to hear a whisper through it. She stood there for minutes, confused, before she looked at the book on the end of the bed. She glared at it for a long time, as if blaming it for the strange feeling. But before she could make up a conclusion to why she had heard the guards, the other noise increased in strength. She pressed her hands against her ears, looking around herself to find the thing that made the sound.

"Shut up..." she growled, still frantically searching. "Be quiet, be quiet... BE QUIET!"

The last she screamed. She felt something boiling inside of her and with a roar she threw herself towards the door. It remained on place the first time, but she burst through it on her second try. The guards immediately took a firm grip of her arms, but she tore herself free with some effort and ran down the hallway, determined on finding the source to the noise and silence it.

- - -

Leo looked up at the figure in the doorway. A weak smile spread over his face, revealing the holes where his fangs used to be.

"Brother..." he managed to whisper. Javier took him on one arm and tore the chains off with the other. He took his coat of and put it on the floor to make a somewhat warm place for his brother to lay on. He gently stroke a lock of hair out of Leo's face. Javier could hardly bare to see what the Murderer had done to his brother. After two days without a drop of blood, he was weak and the Murderer had taken advantage of that. He wasn't scarred, but Javier could see the damage that had been done to him all the same.

"Oh, brother..." he whispered, kissing his forehead. "Don't worry about a thing. I will take you back to our kin and let you have some rest. Then I shall return here and kill them, one after one."

Leo shook his head.

"No... don't. They... they followed the rules, like we agreed."

Javier frowned.

"Rules? Brother, they are _cattle_! They can't know our laws! What they have done to you... I will not forget this because you will it."

"You said... family of victims... will hunt us and... I wasn't careful... they will not find us, brother... let us just leave and we..."

His eyes widened and gasped for air. Javier could only whisper soothing words.

"Oh... Ja-javee..."

Javier heard the click of a rifle behind him and it was pressed against the back of his head.

"Even your kind have trouble healing a severed head, vampire." A cold voice said behind him. Javier looked over his shoulder and saw the face of the Murderer.

"What more do you want, human? You have scarred my brother and lured me here! Is death all you wish for?" he snarled. Remington shook his head.

"Oh no, vampire. I want you to show me your hiding place now."

"No, Remington. The vampire can tell us who sent Gilding."

Remington and Javier looked at Mina in the door. Adria stood behind her, panting. It was obvious was Mina was blocking her way if Adria decided to go in.

"Gilding...?" Remington asked, puzzled. Mina ignored him and glared at Javier.

"Who sent Gilding?"

Javier glared back at her.

"I don't know any Gilding."

"Don't dare to lie. Who sent the assassin to this ship?"

"Assassin...? I..." Javier began, but was interrupted by Leo.

"Brother... the werewolf... He spoke with... Talon of... a league... a battle..." he stuttered quietly. Javier understood what he tried to say. He glared at the people in the room.

"The one who sent the assassin is in America! He isn't here anymore! Don't bother us for something our clan haven't done!" he hissed.

"America? Why has he gone there?"

"How the hell should I know? A werewolf came and took more than half of the pure clan along with our leader to America. Who ever you want to find is there!"

Mina nodded thoughtfully and looked at Remington.

"The ones that are responsible for all this first. Then you have free hands."

Remington looked back and nodded before he tore the vampire up from the floor. He glared at it.

"We will come back. If I find any victim of yours, I will personally stake you and burn your hide-out down. Understood?"

Javier's face darkened, before he seemed to give up. He nodded. Remington let him down and waited for him to pick his brother up. He walked closely behind him, his rifle ready, following him out. Mina felt the buzzing in her head die down when Javier left. She was about to leave when Adria patted her on her shoulder.

"What is it?" she asked.

"You're going to America now?"

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"Just wondered. I was planning to stay here a bit longer, but I can't go to America. I should leave."

Mina knew that she couldn't let the girl leave. It would only be stupid to release another werewolf into London.

"Maybe you can't." She finally said. "You'll have to ask Dr. Jekyll if he thinks you're healthy enough to leave yet."

Adria nodded.

"Yeah, that would probably be best. Thanks."

She went back towards her room. Mina could only hope that Jekyll would know that they couldn't possibly release her. She wondered how long it would take before Adria realized that she was almost a prisoner. Mina sighed and put those troubles aside. She went to find Nemo and tell him of the new plans.


	17. Suggestion

(sings) Sucky, sucky chapter, sucky sucky, chapteeeeeer!!! And no comments for today, so I'll jump straight to the so-called point! Watch your step.

- - -

"No! Absolutely not!" Jekyll told her, his arms crossed over his chest. He knew that he looked like a stereotypical parent, but so what? Adria sighed.

"I _can't_ go to America, even if I like to! I have to get off and get back to my uncle's hotel.

How long have I been here anyway? Never mind that, just tell me why I can't go home."

Jekyll tried to find a good explanation, but was interrupted by Hyde's voice.

_Because she's a potential murderer who will go berserk in London while we're away, hm? Or is it because you still want to..._

"Because I'm not sure that you can take it. I don't know how your body will react to work so soon. And if it can't take it, then I will be around to take care of you. Other doctors can't tell exactly what I have done." Jekyll explained quickly to interrupt Hyde. Adria gave him a questioning look.

"But I'm fine! It's just..." she began, but paused at the end as if she hesitated to say it. "...scars now."

"But do you have any idea if you're infected with anything?"

"What? Why would I be that?"

Jekyll could've bitten his tounge off.

"Uh... you never know. We don't know what hurt you in the first place or where it have been."

Adria gave up.

"Alright, alright, fine. I'll just send him a small letter or something before we go. How long do you plan to stay?"

"I don't know exactly, but I don't think we'll be there more than three weeks."

Adria shook her head.

"I'm going to have a lot to explain when I get back... But thanks for caring, doctor."

"Oh, it's nothing."

Adria looked around in the room.

"Doctor? Do you have another room? Nothing too much, just a small place for myself during the trip."

"I don't know, I think you should ask captain Nemo about that. It's his ship after all."

_Why don't you offer her our room? Or the ice room? Better safe than sorry, or what do they say?_

Jekyll stared at the wall and tried his best not to answer. He had promised himself not do do it in public again.

"Are you alright?"

He was torn out of concentration and looked at Adria. She looked as confused as he must have done.

"Yes, yes, nothing wrong with me. I was just thinking."

"You must have very interesting thoughts then, if they can keep you that busy with them."

Jekyll smiled weakly.

"They can keep me busy alright."

_That was not nice, Henry. For shame._

_Be quiet!_

"So, do you know where I can find the captain?"

"Most likely in the control room. If he's not there, then just ask around."

She thanked him and left. When Jekyll was sure that she was out of hearing distance, he took out his pocket watch.

_I still say you should have offered her our room. There's so little fun to be had around here now._

"Edward, stop. I'm old enough to be her father, grandfather maybe. I will not try anything."

_Isn't that part of the fun?_

"I don't love her." He said. He knew he didn't.

_No, you don't. You want just the same thing I do, don't you? Let me put it like this, then. I want her, you want her, lock the fucking door next time she comes to complain about something!_

To his horror, Jekyll realized that he actually considered it.

"No!" he gasped.

_Ha! You DO want it! Shut up then and have a bottle ready the next time she comes. I'm sure she likes it rough._

Jekyll sat down on the bed and leaned his head in his hands.

"No, Edward. I don't want to hurt her. I... you're right. I do want her, but not like that. I don't want to force her to do anything."

_Then let me do it. We'll probably have some time to spare for that vampire too, right?_

"Let's say I did let you do it then, Edward. Let's say I did let you out to take her. You know what she is, what if she hurts you? Remington told us even a scratch is enough to be infected, what do you think would happen to us if we were infected? What would happen to us, Edward?"

There was silence for a while, both in the room and in Jekyll's head. He didn't wait for an answer, he got up and put the watch pack into his pocket.

"I need some fresh air..." he muttered and left.

- - -

Talon took a deep breath and smiled.

"It feels good to be back on solid ground again, doesn't it?"

One of the vampires in her crew gave a by-passer a hungry look before he went back to his chores. Talley laid a hand on Talon's shoulder.

"I have been on solid ground for quite some time now." He said quietly and smiled. To him, it still felt strange to be happy.

"And you should be damn happy about it too, Greg."

"Oh, I am. Believe me."

"Why would I?" she scoffed and pushed his hand away. She tried to keep her face serious, but it broke up in a grin anyway.

"Talley!"

Talley turned around and saw Jones glaring at him by the ship. He sighed and left Talon. When he stopped at Jones' side, he seemed to want to slap him over his head.

"You and your little plaything can talk later. Here are the directions to their brand new home. Guide them there, don't forget the supplies." He said and gave him a piece of paper.

"Where are you going then?"

"Me? I'm going to make some tracks." He answered with something that would look like a smile.

"I'm sure. Why?"

"So this whole journey would have a point, of course!" he said and left. Talon looked at him while he went and came to Talley.

"He's mad, isn't he?"

Talley shrugged.

"In the beginning, I thought he was just too intelligent for his own good. Now, I'm not so sure. You can take better care of this than me." He said and gave the paper to Talon. She looked at it and smiled.

"It feels good to get a place I can call home again."

"I know exactly how you feel." Talley said and put his arm around her shoulders.


	18. Hatred

Sorry about the delay. Had modem troubles. And this chapter is a little short too, but that's just because I thought it was boring to write. I hope it gets better.

**Funyun – **Glad you liked it :). I tried to make him a perfectly sane person that just didn't feel, but I realized it wouldn't work. And, crazy people are funny people (GodIloveItaly).

Enjoy if you want to.

- - -

About four days after the League's departure from the London docks, Talon's clan had just got themselves adjusted to their new and improved life. The younger ones of the werewolves had gone hunting for a few hours every night, slowly getting to know all the secrets of the surroundings. Not that there was much to know.

Their new home were three large houses hidden in a group of cliffs. It was close enough to the sea to feel the faint smell of it in the air, and the city could be seen close to the horizon. Large herds of sheep and cows roamed the area, free to leave at will in order to get at least a little hunting. Each house had extremely large rooms. Jones had apparently known how the clan had lived in London, and built the houses to maintain that feeling.

Talley sat in a crude couch, listening to the sound of laughter and some snarls from two men who were fighting out of boredom. He sat there, his eyes closed, and just listened. He loved every minute he could hear those sounds. Apart from the yelps and loud growls from the other room, everything was... normal.

Normal.

He never really thought he would put the word normal next to his own name in a sentence lacking 'not'. He leaned back, sighed joyfully and just listened again. The room he was in was completely empty. Apart from one man, of course.

"Talley, get up. Time for the next step now."

Talley opened one eye and glared at Jones.

"Can't you do anything at all without me there, Jones? Just try it once?"

"I need you for this specific thing. Then maybe later you can spend all the time you want with your little friends. For now, you're mine. Now, get up." Jones replied coldly. Talley sighed and heaved himself out of the couch. He straightened his sleeves out and sighed.

"What?" he spat at Jones. Jones looked up at him. Talley almost backed away from him.

There was something wrong about him, his eyes and his smell, that made him even more ghastly than before.

"I want you to get one of the vampires, anyone available, and escort him or her to my bedroom."

Talley raised an eyebrow and grinned.

"You know they're dead, right? They can't please you that way, Jones."

"Spare me your poor jokes and just go get the vampire. I'll be waiting for the two of you in my bedroom." He said sharply and left the room. Talley glared at his back and hated him.

Hated.

- - -

Adria got up on the platform to feel the wind against her face. Maybe it could dry some of it too, she had been sweating like a pig the latest days. In fact, the latest days had been such a mess. Everytime she got into her cabin, she immediately got out again and just wandered around aimlessly. It was almost like she couldn't stay on one spot too long. Like an itch all over her body. She leaned against the railing and looked at the sea, trying to distract herself. For a moment, she understood why people seemed to fall in love with the ocean.

"Adria? Are you out here again?" someone behind her asked. She turned around, and somehow knew who it was before she saw him. Remington gave her a dark look.

"You do seem to be sneaking out a lot. Well, forget it girl, there is no way off this ship until we reach the states."

Adria rolled her eyes.

"Yes, yes, all the normal talk about what I do and what I don't. What do you think I would run for? To tell Germany all about your secret plans? God, Charles, give it a rest."

Remington didn't reply for a while, as if surprised that she even opened her mouth.

"My name is Remington, girl. You will not call me Charles, there's no way in hell I'll let you call me that. And believe me, I don't think you'd be going to Germany either."

Adria siged.

"Oh, fine Remington. Just tell me, what have I done wrong? Is it because I stared at your wound a while back, then I'm so terribly sorry! I didn't mean it, okay?"

Remington inspected his own fingernails, momentarily ignoring her.

"No. It's not because you stared. It goes behind that. You see, I'm not crazy about your kind, so naturally I'm not to happy with having you around either. It's that simple." He said, spitting out the word 'kind' like it was vinegar.

Adria stared, surprised with the frank answer.

"'My kind'? What do you mean? Women? Englishmen? Blondes? What?"

Remington shook his head.

"So the little coward still hasn't told you anything, has he?"

"Told me anything about what?"

Remington raised his hands to imitate a protective pose.

"Oh, nothing, nothing. I won't tell you a thing if good little Dr. Jekyll hasn't told you, because he must have a good reason to shut up. But let me just put in like this then. The next time you think your legs are unusually hairy, I-will-be-there!" he said, poking the air in front of her during the last few words to strengthen them. He then turned around and left. Adria glared at his back and hated him.

Hated.


	19. Saying goodbye

Hey everyone!

I am finally coming close to the end. I'm not quite sure what it is yet, but I'll figure it out.

**Funyun** – Jones is a very bad man, all he can do is kill and make people do it for him. And obey him and stuff. And I don't know what a "bigot" is, but it doesn't sound nice. Anyway, I never liked him much either, during the movie (The ghost and the darkness) I just wondered when the damn lions were gonna eat him.

Enjoy the completely bad-guy chapter.

- - -

Talley lead the old vampire man towards Jones' bedroom. No one of them said a thing. Until the vampire gave Talley a bored look.

"Where are we going, wolf? I certainly hope this little trip has a point."

"How the hell should I know? I just do as I am told." Talley muttered as a reply. The vampire rolled his eyes and smiled.

"Oh, yes. Like any good lap dog would, eh?"

Talley snarled and whirled around, taking a hard grip around the vampire's throat and pressing him against the wall. He could feel his teeth being sharpened and his eyes shifting color. He growled in the vampire's face. The vampire looked down on him calmly.

"You just watch it, wolf. You may be strong, but I am still immortal."

Talley puffed some air in his face and grinned.

"Yes, yes, you're immortal. Good for you. But if you ever call me lap dog again, I'll rip your staked heart out of your chest with my bare hands." He said and let the vampire down again.

"It's right this way. Just a little more to go."

They stopped outside Jones' door. Talley knocked on it and opened the door without waiting for a response. They came into the room with the most furniture in all of the houses. Jones stood by the window, looking at the clouded sky. He could see their reflection and smiled.

"Ah! You have finally arrived. And with one of the immortals as well, excellent!" he said, with unusually much emotion in his voice. Talley couldn't help but wonder if he was possibly really happy for once. He looked at the glass on wine in his hand and hummed.

"Should I leave?" he asked.

"No, no, Talley. You're here as my life line. Close the door, will you?" he replied and emptied the glass. He then carelessly threw it aside, ignoring it shattering on the wall. The vampire gave him a puzzled look.

"Life line? Do you truly think I will attack you?"

"Oh no, my friend." Jones laughed. "It's just that I don't trust you one bit."

The vampire raised an eyebrow. Jones understood the signal for him to continue.

"You see, the annoying little League, as they call themselves for some reason, will be here in about two days. That is, if the tracks I put out are obvious enough for them. And I have absolutely no doubt that all of you, my fine army, will have no trouble dealing with them. Although..." he paused, stroking his chin with a thoughtful look. "I do think that I will be rather useless when the battle comes. I know there are some humans among you, but they have fought before. They are skilled fighters. I am not when it comes to direct fighting and not assassination. So I need to get better quickly."

The vampire seemed to have understood already. He smiled rather grimly.

"I want you to give me the gift, vampire. Talley here will deal with you if you do not give me the gift after drinking from me."

Talley nodded.

"But I have a question for you, Jones. Why? Being able to fight them can't be the only reason that you want to be 'gifted', can it?"

Jones shook his head.

"No. No, of course not. I don't have some crazy scheme if that's what you're thinking about. I just want to live forever... all of you here, with me, ruling the night. Imagine it. Quite a perfect life."

Talley shook his head slowly.

"You really are crazy after all, then. Don't you understand that people will keep fighting us? There is a reason that we keep our 'gifts' secret. That's because no matter how strong we are, there will always be some that kills us. One after one, until there is no one left. Like that murderer back in London!"

"They will accept us in time. Can't you see that? But I had enough arguing now, Talley. Vampire, be done with it."

The vampire didn't hesitate one second. He turned Jones' head away and bit him hard. Jones grimased almost unoticely before he shuddered.

"I don't like the sensation." He mumbled, apparently becoming more lightheaded by the second. The vampire ignored his complaint and kept enjoying his free meal. Jones soon slurred things, looking at Talley, his eyes pleading.

"Enough." Talley ordered. The vampire backed away from Jones, wiping his mouth. Jones, having lost his only support, collapsed to the ground. He still stared at Talley. Talley stared back. The vampire lift his arm to his mouth to pierce the skin on his wrist and let Jones drink his own changed blood.

"Wait."

He gave Talley a surprised look.

"We all know that you are crazy, Jones. You're even more insane than me, now that I've been freed from all of my prisons. Thank you for that, by the way. But your plans..."

Talley paused, looking up at the roof to imitate someone thinking hardly.

"They're rubbish. We will not fight for you, not now, when we have all been given new life.  The world will be a better place, trust me, now that you're gone. And don't you worry about all the leadership thing, I'm sure that I and Talon can handle that perfectly. Good night, Jones." He said, opened the door and pushed the vampire out. He stopped in the doorway, turned around and waved, letting Jones last thing he saw be a wide grin.

Well outside, the vampire stares at him.

"You just let him die?" he asked. Talley shrugged.

"Why not? It's a win-win situation for everyone. You get a better leader, the world loses a lunatic, England's precious little League won't have to die, you got yourself an easy meal, what could be more perfect?"

The vampire smiled and nodded.

"Indeed. What could ever be more perfect?" he said and laughed. They went downstairs and saw three women arguing about something. Talley put his hand on a shoulder.

"There, there now ladies. No need to argue about anything. Tell you what, if you shut up for a minute, I'll let the three of you have the feast we've made for you upstairs, okay?"

They stared at him. He just laughed and pointed up.

"Go upstairs, then four doors to the right. Bring some meat to the pregnant woman too, her husband shouldn't have to give her everything he can catch, now should he?"

The women looked at each other, grinned and raced upstairs. The vampire left. Talley was all alone in the room.

"I'm free, I've found Veronica, I have a home, I have a life." He whispered to himself before he laughed loudly, howled towards the roof and ran out of the room, still laughing loudly.

He twirled around outside, still shouting like mad. He performed a small dance.

"Oh, please, so you're happy. No need to exaggarate it." Someone muttered. Talley stopped his dance, blinked and tried to find whoever had said it. He tried to smell what he couldn't see.

"You don't have to do that. I don't smell." The same voice said. Talley looked over his shoulder.

"Then show yourself."

"Alright."

Out of the shadows came a pale man. His hair was a neutral brown, combed backwards, he was dressed in a grey suit and he held a cane. He had a pckage under his arm. He made a half-bow towards Talley.

"I was called, and I have come. Tell me, where is your leader? Jones?"

Talley grinned.

"Jones is away for the moment. I guess that you are Ian Ashton?"

"At your service."

Talley didn't shake his hand, he tried to avoid touching his skin. He put his hand on his shoulder instead.

"It's not certain that you are needed anymore, Mr. Ashton. Maybe you should stay for a while and see if you are? If nothing has happened for five days, you're free to go."

Ian gave Talley a cold look. Talley noticed that his eyes were as bloodless as his face.

"I think I can do that, but I will be payed my daily fee, as per contract."

"Of course." Talley ensured him, lead him inside and closed the door after them.


	20. Preparing

My head has lots of ideas for some reason. Damn it.

**Funyun – **No, Ian is new. He'll be important later. Oh, so Remington is racist... and people tell me you don't learn things on the internet.

Have great fun. Yeahargh.

- - -

Tom came back up the gangway towards Mina and Nemo.

"I'm not too sure about it, but I think this is it. Everyone seem to hesitate to talk about it, one man even made the sign of the cross."

Mina nodded.

"If they are that frightened, this is surely it. Did you get to know exactly where they are?"

"Not pin-pointed on a map, but general descriptions. Apparently, it's about three miles to the west. Three huge houses hidden behind a cliff formation. They said there were a whole lot of cows there."

"No wonder. Should we get started? No use to wait too long, is there?" Mina asked and looked from Tom to Nemo. Nemo simply nodded and went into the ship to start handing out orders. Tom and Mina remained where they were, quiet.

"Do you have silver bullets?" she asked, probably just to break the silence.

"Yeah. Enough to provide an army."

"Good. I should go to my cabin and prepare myself. See you in a while." She said and left him. He waited a while, looking at the sea.

"Yeah." He mumbled before he also went inside, going towards his cabin.

- - -

Jekyll packed some bottles into his pockets, preparing himself. He thought he'd have to drink several during the battle. He checked that they were put safely in their pockets and glanced at the mirror. Hyde grinned back at him.

_Finally!_

Jekyll looked down in the desk. His hands trembled, and he had good reasons. He couldn't really believe that he had to unleash Hyde to fight creatures that with a mere scratch could turn him into one of them. It was like a poorly written horror novel. Not that he read much horror stories.

But then again, Hyde could probably manage himself. He'd just stay in the background, as always.

_That is a very good idea. You just stay back and shut up. And while you fiddle with the bottles, why don't we pay our lady friend a visit right now?_

"Because we don't have time for the others to go berserk on us right now, Edward." He replied before he could stop himself. What he meant, of course, was "Because I don't want to rape her".

Of course.

He cleared his throat, tried to correct his clothes (oh, what's the point?) and left the room, ignoring Hyde's grinning picture in each and every shiny thing.

- - -

"I have a very bad feeling about this." Talon said, biting on one of her nails.

"Stop biting on your nails, it'll make your teeth stand out." Talley replied half-heartedly.

"About what?" he added when he finally caught the message of what she had just said.

"About this!" Talon made a swooping motion with her arm, getting up from the couch.

"About everything! It feels like there's trouble coming."

"Are you sure it's not just a storm?"

Talon glared at him.

"Are you even listening to me? I'm saying that it feels like something's going to happen!"

He didn't reply, he just looked out of the window. Talon groaned.

"What are you staring at, Greg? Are some of the girls transforming?" she growled at him and pushed him out of the way. The only thing she could see was the stranger in the grey coat. He stood on the dry grass, staring up at the clouds. She could see no reason why he would be so interesting.

"You are staring at the stranger? Have you acquired some new taste in people while we were apart?"

Talley glared at her. There was some tension in the air between them.

"Of course not! It's just that... I don't know, it's like I simply can't look away! I feel strange about it too, Veronica, don't look at me that way. I don't want to sleep with him if that's what you mean."

She crossed her arms.

"Oh, really. Do you want to eat him then?"

"Hell no! I won't touch him with a 60 feet pole! I don't know what it's about him. Damn it, Veronica, I don't know what's wrong either! Perhaps it's the moon or something."

She shook her head.

"I don't think it is. I think it's something else, something bigger. Like..."

She was interrupted by some hard poundings on the door. Someone stepped in straight after.

"Talon! I'm sorry I have to interrupt, but we need you down there. It's Sladjana, she's going into labor."

She frowned for a while, but then seemed to remember who she was.

"How bad is it?"

"Well... she's bleeding a lot, and we don't know exactly what to do. A little help, please?"

She quickly nodded.

"I'll be right down."

The man in the door left. Talon turned to Talley and gave him a light push on his shoulder.

"And if I find you and the stranger in bed tonight, I'll kill him." She hissed and left the room. Talley glared after her, sighed loudly and wondered why he felt so miserable.

- - -

A crewmember on the Nautilus came walking down the hallway. He carried a sack of potatoes he had just bought and he hummed merrily. That was until he saw the opened door. At first he didn't give it a second thought, but then he remembered something. Wasn't that room...? He dropped the sack of potatoes and ran into the room. Everything in the room was normal.

Apart from the guard slumped against the wall with some blood trickling down the side of his face.

The crewmember looked down on the floor and saw that she had broken one of the legs of the bed off and used it as a weapon. He quickly tried to see if the guard was still alive. He checked his pulse and gently pressed the wound to see if anything was broken. The guard groaned when he touched it, but everything seemed to be whole. The crewmember stood up again. He had to tell someone that the werewolf girl was loose and a guard was struck down.

He ran out of the room to find someone. He grabbed the arm of the first one he caught sight of and quickly told him the story. The man he had found gave him a horrified look.

"She is loose?" he asked in their native language. "On the ship?"

"Yes, maybe she even have left. Where is the captain?"

The man sighed deeply and scratched the side of his throat.

"He has already left. He took his companions and some men with him and left. We can't go after him now."

The crewmember tried to figure something out.

"Tell everyone to keep an eye out for her. If she is found, she must be brought back to her room. Or, possibly the ice room..."

The men nodded and left. The crewmember went back into the room to help the injured guard.

And by every step he took, he imagined the girl/monster in every poorly lit corner.


	21. Murderer

Pretty weird chapter. It's been raining here, so I've been writing. And drawing stuff too. Yay.

**Funyun** – People told you that? Nowadays, it's the ONLY way to make friends! Internet is my master! I'm glad you like Talley and Talon (I'm so happy, today I found out that Talley is a real name!), I've grown quite fond to them as well. And kill Remington...? That would actually be quite surprising for people, wouldn't it? Hmmm...

Anyway, here 'tis.

Mmmyes...

- - -

Adria hurried down the gangway and onto the street. She walked quickly, staring at the ground. When she felt she was at a safe distance from the ship, she began to jog and hid behind a wagon. She looked up from behind it to check if she were followed before she sighed in relief and sat down on it. She ran her fingers through her hair and thought about what she had just done. She hadn't killed the guard, so everything was alright, wasn't it? She wasn't a prisoner after all, why would she be treated as one then? She looked up on the sky. It was just an hour or two until nightfall. She looked at the bypassers and took a deep breath. She was just going for a walk, she'd be back before it was dark. She stood up and corrected her clothes before she began walking slowly up the street, giving everything she could see a curious look. She lay her hand on the door to a shop and were about to enter when she heard a strange sound. Something that made shivers run down her spine.

A howl. She turned in the direction of the sound and began to follow it. She didn't seem to think it was strange that she went in the same direction as the League.

Infact, she didn't think anything was strange. Everything was just the way it was supposed to be.

- - -

Talon opened the door and stepped up on a table. Everyone in the room turned towards her, some of the women already praising the childs beauty before they had seen it. Sladjana and her husband remained in the other room, trying to get some peace and quiet. Talon uncovered the infant and showed it to the crowd. The small, sleeping child was very small for its race, but it was healthy.

"I present to you, the first newborn of our clan, Mentor Ishmael Rrustanemi!" she exclaimed and raised the child above her head. Every person in the room cheered loudly, applausing. The small boy squirmed uneasily in Talon's grip. She let him return to her steady arms and returned to the parents in the other room. Sladjana shone like a lantern when she took her first-born son from Talon's arms. Talon clapped the father on his shoulder before she left the room again. When she came out, she saw Talley standing on the table. Surprised, she stopped in the doorway, looking at him.

"Brothers and sisters!" he said loudly to be heard in the mumbling. "I have something important to tell you. Jones is dead!"

Everyone instantly fell silent. They stared at Talley.

"That's right, and do you know what that means? It means we no longer have any reason at all to do what we're here to do. You are all capable fighters, but now that we have everything we could ever want, why should we fight? We have homes, plenty of food and large plains to roam, then is there any need to fight about it? I say no! I say that we stay here and leave the rest of humanity to it's fate. What do you say?"

It was obvious that no one had seen it coming, they stood silent and stared at Talley. Some youngsters in the front of the crowd suddenly broke into cheering and clapping. It infected the rest of the crowd and before they could say something else, everyone shouted out their agreement. Talon leaned against the wall and applaused him, he caught sight of her and motioned her to come up on the table. She rolled her eyes and stepped up on it, just to be swept up in his arms and kissed in front of everyone. This made some laugh loudly and the rest to cheer even more. Talon broke free from Talley's tight grip and grinned at him. The noise was interrupted by the door being kicked open. Everyone turned around to see who was coming.

Remington stepped in through the door, with the League closely after him.

"Hello everyone." He said and bowed his head towards the crowd in the room. Everyone stared at the group of intruders. The tense silence was broken by Talley.

"And you are the League, I guess."

"Yes, we are." Mina replied to him. "And I assume that you know exactly why we are here."

"Yes, I do, but there is no reason at all for you to stay now. No one of us wish to fight you now. We give you our word that we will not bother any human that does not bother us. We don't want to fight you, understand?"

Before anyone had any chance to say anything more, a man broke free from the crowd. He glared darkly at Remington before he howled loudly and leapt at Remington, changing in mid-air. Remington quickly brought his rifle up and shot the werewolf in the air. The half-transformed man crashed on the ground, spitting blood for a second before dying. No one in the room said anything, they just stared at the corpse.

"Not a good move..." Skinner mumbled behind Remington. Remington ignored him.

"Anyone else that want to try that?" he asked. Mina closed her eyes and sighed. They had been close to a peaceful solution for once.

A woman in the crowd let out a high shriek and threw herself down beside the man on the ground. She sobbed loudly and hid her face in her hands. She whispered a non-english word over and over again before she looked up at Remington. She said something to him sharply. Remington gave her a puzzled look.

"The Murderer... The Silver Murderer." Someone in the crowd said. It was repeated by others until it became like a chant.

"Murderer, murderer, murderer, murderer..." they whispered as one, while those who could slowly transformed. They advanced upon the League who prepared themselves. Skinner let his coat fall to the ground and tried to get out of the way while Jekyll went outside to drink his potion. Those remaining readied their weapons. Mina looked at Talley who looked back and shrugged.

"You should've left." He said. As if it was rehearsed, one of the werewolves pounced. He was immediatly shot and collapsed to the ground. The League quickly spread out to make it easier to fight without getting in the way of each other. Skinner quickly snuck into another room, trying to be useful without actually risking his life this time.

And so the battle was started.

- - -

Ian Ashton stood upstairs. He listened to the noise downstairs and nodded slowly.

"I better be paid well for this." He said to himself and opened his package.

- - -

Hyde smashed in through the door with a loud roar. Some of the fighters in the room stopped and stared at him for a moment, before they returned to the frenzy. Remington turned around and caught sight of him.

"What the bloody hell?!" he screamed. Mina took a tight grip on his shoulder to get his attention.

"Don't shoot Hyde, he's with us."

Remington spent another moment staring at the hulk in front of him before he quickly had to replace his attention on the fight.

- - -

Adria stopped in front of the three large houses. She gave each of them a curious look and wondered why she had felt to desperate to get here, there really wasn't anything special about them at all. She heard the noises inside one of the houses and walked up to a window. She looked in and ducked quickly. She yelped when the creature came crashing through it. It rolled on the ground and got up on its feet again almost right away. It shook its head and caught sight of her. Adria whimpered when it came closer. It leaned down towards her as if it tried to see what she was. It sniffed the air in front of her, grunted and leapt back in through the window. Adria looked in after it.

"Was that a...?" she whispered. That book she had tried to read, it couldn't be true, could it? She decided that this place was not a good place for her to be, with the fighting and shooting. She didn't exactly want to get hurt because she was curious. She tried to sneak away and a couple of meters away, she realized something. Dr. Jekyll had given her that book, maybe he had tried to warn her about that? That they were going to meet these creatures?

But in seconds, she realized why she had been given the book.

She had understood that they were made/infected by wounds.

Wounds, chest. Check.

About their restlessness before the first transformation.

Check.

And about...

She looked up at the sky in the same moment the fullmoon rose over the horizon. She closed her eyes, kept them tightly shut and knew that it was going to be painful.

And yes, it was painful when everything in her body changed.

But it was a enjoyable kind of pain.


	22. Into the fray

Ssssoooo... not much to do around here. Lots of crying in this one. And I'm rather pleased with it, despite the cheesy end of it... not end of story, just the chapter. Please leave a message after the beep.

- - -

- - -

Talley stared at the chaos in front of him. The humans in their pack attacked with whatever weapons they could find, and some were brutally cut och shot down. They had more trouble with the werewolves, there were several of their enemies lying in a pool of their own blood on the floor. But they must have brought silver bullets along with them, since there were some werewolf carcasses at some places, and the living occasionally whimpered loudly when they were hit. He had caught no sight of any vampires yet.

He gave the female vampire from the League a dark look before he leapt off the table, making his situation less dangerous. He considered transforming and joining in the battle before he realized that was exactly what he had told every one else not to do. Should he fight? There was a chance that he would lose everything that was dear to him. He looked around in the room to see if he could catch sight of Talon or, if she had transformed, her black fur.

He could see here nowhere. Maybe she had already left? But he couldn't see the League's vampire either. A cold spread through his body and he had to struggle to breath. As strong as a werewolf was, it was no match against a vampire.

"VERONICA!" he cried out, leaving the room to search through the house.

- - -

Talon pulled the wood in the window, and when it wouldn't bugde, she merely smashed her hand through it and brushed the fragments onto the ground. Sladjana held her son close to her body. She held her arms over his back, protecting his head with her hands and mumbled gentle words on her language, occasionally giving him a light kiss. Her husband Raschid had a dark look on his face. He always looked over his shoulder, staring at the door. Talon took a tight grip on his arm and turned him towards her. She looked him in his eyes and talked loudly and clear.

"Raschid, I know you want to stay and fight these intruders, but you must think about your family. Do you understand? I forbid you to go back into the house until you are searched out and informed otherwise."

Raschid opened his mouth to argue, but his eyes turned to Sladjana and their son. He closed his mouth again and his face softened. He nodded slowly. She nodded as well, as if they had come to an agreement.

"Good." She said and smiled at him. He went to the window and climbed out, leaping down onto the ground. When he touched it he immideately crouched, absorbing the impact. He turned towards the window and reached up. This was the part that Talon had been unsure of. Could Sladjana jump down with the child in her arms? Could it survive to be dropped for its father to catch it? She motioned Sladjana to move, letting her make the decision. Sladjana walked up to the window and looked down. She looked at her son again and gave Talon a questioning look.

"I'm sure it will be fine..." She began, but felt the presence of another creature close nearby. She glanced at the door. "But no matter, you have to go now!"

Sladjana didn't even turn towards the window before the door was pushed open. A vampiress stood in the door, her long curly hair stained with blood. Her red eyes focused on them and a snarl escaped her. Sladjana screamed, obviously terrified. In the matter of seconds, she made her choice, gave her son one last kiss and threw her son out as gently as she could with a word shouted loudly.

Raschid gasped and stretched his arms up to catch Mentor. He caught the cloth he was wired in. It was not a gentle catch, and the infant began to cry loudly, but Raschid could only hold him close and whisper thanks to Allah. A human child would probably not have survived it. He looked up towards his pack leader and his wife. During this short period of time, Sladjana already had transformed herself and agressivly attacked the vampire.

Her long, vicious claws made whooshing sounds when they traveled through the air, always just an inch or two from the vampire's face. Sladjana howled in rage, throwing herself at the vampire one more time. This time she was prepared and ducked, letting her silver knives cut two long wounds down Sladjana's chest and stomach. She shrieked loudly and collapsed at the floor. Talon saw the fear in her eyes shine like lanterns a few seconds before she died. She heard a long, grieving howl from her husband outside. She snarled and began transforming.

- - -

Tom turned around. No one was attacking him for the moment, so he checked how everyone else was doing. Hyde was, of course, having the time of his life. Laughing loudly, he attacked everyone around, human as werewolf, using his strenght and size alone as weapons.

Occasionally he would use his enemies as weapons against them. Tom saw that most of the crew they had taken along was alive, even if some were wounded. Tom spent a few seconds wondering what they should do with them later. He continued looking. Mina was nowhere to be seen, but he had seen her following the werwolve's leader upstairs. Skinner was... probably not there, and Tom wasn't very surprised about that. There was however one whose absence there was strange.

"Where is Nemo...?" he asked, almost shouting. No one heard him. He guessed that he had left to fight at a better place and forgot about him, fighting on.

- - -

Talon, now halftransformed, took a tight grip around the vampiress' throat and lift her up.

"You DARE come here?!" she screamed and threw her across the room. He slammed into the wall and seemed to be knocked out for a second or two before she got back up on her feet. She calmly met Talon's eraged eyes.

"You DARE kill Sladjana? How?! I will kill you for this, you arrogant bitch!" she screamed and transformed, her size changing at remarkable speed.

The vampire raised an eyebrow at her when the new apparition roared at her. She leapt against the vampire, snarling. The vampire took a step aside, quickly giving her a nasty cut over her upperarm. She landed, glanced at the wound and attacked again, more planned this time. The vampire managed to give her another irrevelant cut, but this time Talon's claws left four long marks on her stomach. The vampire looked at them, and a shadow of doubt crossed her face. Talon grinned and in her present form, it was quite unsettling to see.

"I will rip your pretty eyes from your sockets..." she hissed and again leapt towards the vampire. This time, she seemed to use her full potential. She immediately threw one of her knives at Talon when she leapt and managed to stab her quickly when they passed each other. Talon turned around again and growled at the place where she thought the vampire would be.

She found nothing there. Surprised she looked up and saw her shadowy figure in a cloud of bats. She crouched down to jump towards them when she felt a pain in the side of her neck.

And nothing more.

- - -

Mina looked at the werewolf's corpse. She then turned her attention towards the thin air by it's side.

"Skinner?" she asked, and would have felt stupid if she didn't know he was there. There was a strange sound from said spot.

"I killed it, didn't I? It won't attack now?"

Mina looked at the gaping wound in the creatures neck.

"No, I think it is dead. Thank you, Skinner. You seem to have developed a knack for saving our skins."

Skinner chuckled and Mina got a picture of an anonymous face blushing. It didn't seem like Skinner to do so, so she ignored it. She heard something she thought was a gasp.

"Mina! It has hurt you!"

Mina looked down on the four wounds. They were bleeding slightly, but healing, if slowly.

"I'm sure I' ll manage alright." She said to convince both him and herself that everything was fine. "How many are are left? How are the others faring?"

"They are downstairs, right in the middle of that mess. And... did you hear something?"

Mina didn't hear his last part. She was busy trying to detect exactly where that low buzzing

came from.

"Skinner." She hissed. "Leave."

The door opened and shut and Skinner was gone. Mina looked out of the window just to be sure. She saw a man staring back at her. His eyes were yellow and he bared his teeth when he saw her. He held an infant in his arms. Mina saw the small streaks on his cheeks and understood that they were tears. She looked back at the first werewolf she had killed and remembered that it had been a woman before the transformation. She looked down on the father and motherless child again.

The father snarled, she could barely hear it, and quickly ran away. Mina looked after him. She didn't know if she should be happy that there was one less in the world or sad because an innocent child had lost its mother because of her. She sighed and turned around again. An old man stood in the door, grinning as her, baring his bloody fangs.

"Hello precious..." he said quietly while the remaining four vampires came in through the door behind him.

- - -

Hyde roared again and punched a vaguely human creature straight in the face. It stumbled backwards, bleeding heavily. When it had regained its bearings, it turned and fled. Hyde laughed loudly at the sight of it and fell silent. Wasn't there something in the air he could recognize? He looked around himself to see if it was one of those annoying 'allies', as they apparently were called, but he was alone in the large room. He heard glass break in a room not too far away. He chose the door closest to him and smashed the door open. No point to be polite and actually open it, now, was there?

Nothing there, except for a mangled body. He grinned at it. It had actually put up a fair fight. The thing he was looking for was apparently somewhere else. He didn't have to look any further. With a loud growl a small, tan werewolf smashed through the door. Hyde turned towards it, surprised, but managed to hit it when it pounced at him. It flew back a meter or two and rolled on the floor. It soon got up again and crouched down, it's yellow eyes fixed on him. Hyde grinned again. He knew who it was.

"Do you recognize her, Henry?" he said out loud. There was no response from him for a while.

_Adria? God... what is she doing here?_

"Take a guess, genius." Hyde scoffed and motioned with his arm against her feral shape.

_I know what you are thinking, Edward. Don't kill her!_

"Kill her? Why would I? I'll have to think about entertainment too!" he said and laughed at the end. He felt something that probably was a mental frustrated sigh.

_Edward! How can you even think about it?! I..._'

Hyde ignored the rest of the sentence and attacked the werewolf Adria with a loud laugh. He knew that Henry was watching everything trough his eyes and could do nothing about what he saw.

That was one of the reasons that he laughed.

- - -

"VERONICA!" Talley called again, hoping that she would reply, or hear him. She might have gone to the other house. He saw one last room. Hoping she had been reasonable and hid in there, he opened the door.

And stared.

He noticed when the tears rolled down and was dried up by his shirt.

He didn't know when he began to wail like a harpy.

- - -

Skinner opened the door slightly. He seemed to be in some sort of library. It seemed untouched, there were no bodies on the floor and no blood as far as the eye could see. He stepped inside and looked around. It was a nice room. Red. He felt the carpet against his bare feet and thought that he could almost forget about everything that was going on the the rest of the house if he stayed in there.

No shame in that, he was after all useless in battle.

"Or maybe not..." he thought loudly. "I did after all kill that werewolf..."

He heard the eerie sound of metal against metal and turned around. He sa the shadowed figure behind the door seconds before he felt the piercing pain in his shoulder. He screamed in pain and sank down to the floor. He knew that whatever had hurt him had passed all the way trough. His arm seemed to stop working, in hung limp and useless by his side. He tried desperately to move his fingers, and whimpered when he couldn't.

The pain was almost more than he could take. He closed his eyes tightly, like if he absolutely couldn't see, the pain would go away. He had only felt this kind of pain once before. In the fire, just that this was concentrate to one spot of his body.

He felt something small hit him on his chest. He opened one eye with effort and looked at it. It was the same kind of facial paint he used. He also noticed that the thing in his shoulder was a sword. A familiar sword.

"Put it on. Make sure to cover your forehead and cheeks. Make a stripe running up your throat to your lips. Understood?"

Skinner didn't nod or reply. He just took the lid off and took up some paint on his fingers. He painted himself like this person had told him to.

"Get up." A harsh voice instructed him. Skinner couldn't move. He tried to get up, but couldn't. He felt lightheaded and weak. Something tugged at his wound and bit into the sides of it. He could only whimper. The man seemed to mumble something in a language he couldn't understand and quickly pulled the sword away.

Skinner gasped when it left him and had to lean onto the floor with his working arm not to faint. A hand gripped his throat and lift him to his feet. He felt the tip of the sword against his chest.

"And now, Mr. Skinner, you will stay in here, and you will be very silent and obedient. I hope you have understood my instructions."

Skinner didn't reply this time either. He stared at the man in front of him and didn't want to believe what he saw.

"Oh... god..." he managed to stutter. "Nemo..."


	23. Stay with us

Hum-dee-dum-dee-dum...

**Funyun** – Go right ahead, kick Remmie if you want to. I'm just so happy that I can make you feel something for him. Whee!

**Nicky007** – Yes! I like evil! That and surprises. Evil surprises? Hehe...

And with that said, I'll let you get back to your cups.

- - -

- - -

Hyde stood still as a statue, staring at Adria's ghastly figure in the other side of the room. She didn't even seem tired, she was crouched down and all he could see of her face was the glint in her yellow eyes. It twitched in his hand. He wondered how much longer he could go on. What if the potion wore off and she would attack when they were weak?

He clenched his fists and glared at her. She slowly walked out into the moonlight, circling around him, snarling. He waited for her to attack first, no doubt she was faster. He wished she would be still so he could snap her neck. At the thought of this, Jekyll protested in the back of his head. He ignored the annoying pest.

"C'mon, then..." he grumbled at her, sure that she could hear him. She growled at him, showing an impressive collection of sharp teeth. As if it was just a show, Hyde growled back.

_Edward, the potion won't last much longer! Flee!_ Jekyll adviced him. He mumbled something. In that second, Adria took an impressive leap, aiming for Hyde's throat. Hyde reacted instinctively and his fist quickly slammed into Adria's chest, sending her straight into the wall. Something broke with a loud crunch and she yelped.

She collapsed on the floor and writhed in pain. Hyde stumbled towards the wall, leaning on it. He wouldn't get far, he would transform here, with her in the room. It was obvious that she would tear them to pieces. He felt Henry's fear in his pain.

"Cowardly worm..." he grumbled and looked at the werewolf. He heard something snap inside of her and could almost see her chest twitching. She looked up and snarled at him. Hyde raised his hand and made a rude gesture. Adria got up on her feet, growled and was gone from the room. Hyde almost sighed in relief. She fled from him.

He gritted his teeth and crossed his hands over his head. The transformation was no different, as always the pain was almost more than he could take. He fought down the nausea. Soon enough, it was Jekyll sitting there, his face hidden in his hands. He took a look around himself, checking to see if he was alone in the room. An insane giggling escaped him when he saw that he was. He soon recovered his senses.

_Losing it, eh?It would be just like you._

"Shut up, Edward. We're alright and unhurt, that all that matters right now. I can't think of any time that I've been happier... right now." He replied to the voice in his head. He remembered that he was sitting in a house full of werewolves, he was half-naked and talking to himself. Or rather a part of himself. The thought of how it must have looked for someone who didn't know him made him smile while he cautously looked for the way out of the house.

- - -

Tom brushed some sweat off his face. It was hellishly warm. He reloaded his rifle and looked around himself to see if there was any of the creatures in the shadows. After they had killed off a fair sum of them, they had started to attack out of the dark, striking as quick and silently as they could. He didn't remember when he had been cut off from the rest of the the League and the crewmembers. But now he was alone. Neither human nor werewolf were around.

He took some time trying to remember where the rest of them had gone. The crewmembers were either there or in the other house. Skinner and Nemo were gone. Hyde must be okay, what else? Who could bring him down? And Remington... well, Tom didn't care much for him, but it would be sad indeed if he happened to die. And Mina...

Tom froze in a move. Mina! He had forgotten about her! She had gone all alone to fight something, hadn't she? Pictures of what could have happened or was happening to her swam in his mind, but he shook them away and tried to find the way back to the stairs. She had gone upstairs. He had to find her and make sure that everything was okay.

He followed his own footsteps back to the entry, only the thought of Mina in his head. He got to the entry and even leapt one or two steps up in it before he realized that she was already standing at the top. He sighed in relief.

"Mina! Are you alright?" he asked her. She didn't even notice that he was there. He saw that her skin was unusually white, her blue eyes stared out into nothing. There was something odd about her. He carefully took a few steps closer to her and saw what was wrong. Her throat had been torn open. She had probably been drained again. The thought of it sickened him. He reached out and took her hand.

"Mina? Can you hear me?"

It took a long while before she finally turned her head towards him. She opened her mouth slightly. Tom didn't like the feeling it gave him, but he didn't leave her there. He took her other hand as well and gently stroked them with his thumbs.

"We heard our brother's screams..." she whispered so quietly he almost missed it. Tom frowned.

"Brother? What do you mean?"

"But we couldn't come." She continued as if she hadn't heard him, which she probably hadn't. "He called our names, cried for us. Told us about you and the silver murderer. You hurt our brother. Now we hurt you."

Tom shivered. Her voice was low and mechanical, like she read a text off a paper. He slowly began leading her down the stairs. She followed when he wanted him to, but didn't seem to be able to walk without someone telling her to.

"I'm going to take you out to the wagon. You can rest there, you don't have to stay in here any longer. Just follow me."

He opened the door and lead the way out. When the door slammed shut, he felt a hand on his shoulder. She pulled gently, almost like she was brushing something off his jacket, but he turned anyway. His gaze immediately locked with hers, and he stared deeply into her red eyes. He wanted to break free, scream, fight, make her stop, but all he could to was to stare at those beautiful eyes.

She leaned closer, and he thought that it was a kiss. Would she finally kiss him? He hoped so. But she didn't. He realized what was going on a moment before she bit him. He gasped, feeling her fangs cut through his skin and his blood flowing into her. He tried to push her away from him, but she was still a vampire. She was still stronger than him, even if she had been drained.

And now she was draining him.

Just moments later, he felt strange. His body was light and warm, and he had forgotten everything, he only knew about her. It was just a kiss, and he smelled her hair and gently stroked her back. Something interrupted, didn't it? Someone shouting. Who was that? He wanted him to go away. Then, like a veil had been torn away, he could hear every word he shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Mina! Stop it! Let go of him! Mina!" Jekyll screamed, trying to pull her away from Tom with sheer force. She gave him a puzzled look and seemed to understand what he wanted her to do. She let go of Tom and he collapsed on the ground.

Jekyll immediately kneeled down beside him and tore Tom's shirt off. He made a bandage out of it and tried to stop the flow of blood. Mina stood by Tom's feet, staring at him. She tried to wipe his blood away from her mouth, but only managed to smear it out over her face. Jekyll turned to her.

"Mina, if you don't help me we'll lose him."

"I think we will anyway, Doctor... I think I took too much. I'm so sorry, but they had..." she said and trailed off at the end. Mina and Jekyll looked at each other and then to Tom.

"But there must be something. There must be something we can do! We can't just let him die here!"

Mina looked at the wagon. She took Tom's lifeless body up in her arms.

"Get us to the town, and quickly. There is something we can do, but he will need blood. And I don't think the two of us can give him that."

She opened the door and gently put him down on the seat. She sat down on the opposite, closed the door and called to Jekyll.

"Get us there now! And hurry!"

She heard him call to the horses and the wagon jumped forward. She gently removed the bandage and cut the palm of her hands on her fangs. She dripped some of her blood on the wound and watched it close. She leaned down next to his head.

"You have to stay with us, Tom. I'm sorry I did this to you. You have to want to live, do you understand me?"

She kissed his cheek and repeated the first part over and over again.


	24. A confession

Sorry about the long delay! I wrote this chapter earlier, but I lost my disc and spent a week looking for it before I rewrote it. Stupid lost things. But it's coming to an end, not much left now. Phew...

**Funyun** – Tombstone? Ah, that's a western, isn't it? Don't really like those. I'm beginning to feel like I should've let Hyde just kill Adria. That would've been fun! Especially to give Jekyll some issues about it later... Bwahaha. Yes, the whole "worm" thing is a bit annoying, but it's fun. Who can resist it? I'm glad you liked the "madness" thingy, I wasn't sure about it, but I couldn't have Mina fight all the vampires there alone? Was it four of five? That would be horrible, now, wouldn't it? Thanks for reading so far!

**Tonianne** – Bwahaha, explicit use of cliffhangers! Tom isn't in this chapter, you'll have to wait a while. Thanks for the compliments. :)

Oh, and in case you're wondering, I will only be able to update at week-ends now because that's the only time I can use the internet. I have it at school, but I don't want to mess with this thing there.

Anyway, here's another chapter of my little fic. Enjoy it, now, you hear?

Argh, for some reason the "---" thingy's won't work, so there's one of those things between Talley's little howl and the Skinner part.

"I guess I have something to tell you. I don't know if you want to hear it, but I must tell someone before I lose my mind. Or what little is left of it now. I never told you how much I hated him, you know, or why. And what kind of a question to ask is that? You know exactly who I am talking about. Quatermain, who else? There, now that I have stated the obvious, maybe I can get back to the storytelling. Oh, yes, I didn't mean you were stupid, I'm sorry. I will just go on.

I joined Jones' 'cause' for one single reason. He promised me that I could have Quatermain and do with him as I desired once it was over. And who am I to turn that offer down? I couldn't wait to have done Jones' dirty work so I could tear Quatermains heart out with my bare teeth. Don't judge me, wait until I get to the reason. Then you can look me in my eyes and tell me you wouldn't have done the same.

Do you remember our expedition? Our expedition to the mountain? I sure do. While we traveled back to the coast I lay wrapped in blankets, shivering of fever and mumbling nonsense. I remember that so clearly. The only thing I could say was your and my wife's names. I called them out whenever I could. It hurt so badly...

And where were you? I never saw you since then. Not on the ship back to England, not just passing by on the street. I didn't spot you even once, and God knows I searched when I could. Did you flee the expedition? Did you hide in the jungle and have your first transformation there? If I wasn't too weak, maybe you would've brought me? I think everything would've been much easier now if you had.

Do you know where I suffered my first transformation? In a cold, dark fucking cell! Chained to the wall! I was scared and confused and everything in my body hurt! I was alone! No wonder I lost my mind! I was hungry, and it hurt, and everything was new. No one even talked to me during that time, or even knocked on the door to ensure me that I wasn't there all by myself. Maybe you see now.

The humane thing would have been to kill me, don't you think? You would've done so. I know that. Quatermain didn't. He locked me away! He forbade anyone who wanted to see me to even come close! My wife... eventually she divorced me. I know she did, because I saw a notice in an old newspaper. She and her new husband on a nice picture. I didn't mind. All I could care about was Quatermain's bloody body at the time. And then... well, you know very well what happened then. I think I was fine again for a while. With you. I think everything in my head was the way it was supposed to be. You made me alright again.

And now I have lost you.

I am very sorry, Veronica. I should have been more careful with you. Now I guess you want me to leave. What? Oh, yes, yes of course I will... "

Talley kissed Veronica on her forehead. He noticed that her head was slightly out of place, so he carefully put it back on its right place before he lovingly kissed her forehead again. He wondered for a brief moment why she didn't smile at him.

_Because she is angry. She has to think about Quatermain and other such things._

He listened to the reasonable voice and nodded. Of course that was the way. He got up on his feet and took a few steps away from her. He then turned around and climbed out of the window. He looked down on the ground and wished it was higher when he leapt down on it. He could smell the infant and his father. Sladjana was still up there. He gave the child a quick thought and then forgot about it. He looked around himself for a while before he began walking. He walked in the direction where the smell of the sea came from. He rubbed some warmth into his arms, it was pretty cold. He then cocked his head to one side.

"Veronica? Do you want to keep me company?" he said out loud. He paused for a while, as if waiting for a response. Then he nodded, as if thinking.

"No, it's alright. You don't have to talk if you don't want to. I was just thinking... never mind. You probably don't want to hear it. What direction do you think that small town is? Over there? I don't know, I can just find the sea." He said and giggled maniacally. "I mean, the sea is pretty easy to find, don't you think? You have to struggle to lose it. The town, on the other hand, is tricky. It's never in one place..."

His voice trailed off at the end. He walked in silence for a while. He heard some sheep a small distance away.

"It's fullmoon tonight. If I don't change, I'll do tomorrow night. I have to do it, eventually. But not now, maybe later. Mmm, do you smell the sea, Veronica? It smells good, I think."

He thought he heard something move behind him. He spun around quickly to see who it was and saw absolutely nothing there. He stared at the empty ground for a while before he slowly began to back away from it. He felt a tear trickle down his cheek and didn't brush it away. It soon got company anyway. He sobbed quietly.

"Where is that town? And... and... why don't you talk to me, Veronica? I don't like it when it is so... quiet."

He stopped again and stood still.

"Please say something. Please."

He sank down on his knees and sobbed loudly again.

"Say something... Veronica. Veronica, PLEASE!" he whispered, and screamed the last word out loudly as long as he could. He then sat there for a long while, crying like a child and howling like a lunatic.

Skinner still sat slumped against the wall. His arm didn't hurt anymore. He knew that wasn't good, it wasn't good at all. It hang limp and useless by his side. He couldn't even move it anymore. He sometimes considered asking Nemo for help, but he probably don't mind it. Skinner tried to focus his eyes on his face. Nemo sat a little away from him, looking from the door to a spot a few inches above his left ear. He never looked at his face. Skinner grunted. He didn't know why, but he suspected it was jut to see that he still could. The spot above his left ear was intensively glared at. Nemo muttered something, probably in his own language.

"Nemo..." skinner croaked. He got no reply, not even a sign that he had heard him. He didn't let that bring him down, he hadn't asked him specifically to shut up.

"Nemo, why do you do this? What makes betraying the League worth it?"

Nemo muttered something and made a small motion with his sword. If it was some kind of sign, Skinner didn't get it.

"I... I mean, we have tried to be as good towards you as we can, and you..."

"Be silent!" Nemo snapped at him. Skinner took the advice. He rested his head against his unhurt shoulder. He wanted to get a little sleep, but he chose to stay awake, simply because he couldn't remember obvious things about himself anymore. And he'd be damned rather than to let a small fleshwound be the death of him.

The door shot open and Nemo was up on his feet almost immediately. Remington came in through the door, breathing heavily, and slammed it shut behind him. He leaned on it and tried to catch his breath. Half his face had blood all over it, probably caused by the small cut in his temple. He saw Nemo and raised his eyebrows in a questioning way. Skinner wanted to warn him, to tell him to keep away, but a small glance at Nemo's sword made him stay quiet.

"Captain Nemo, what have happened in here? Have you been here all along? And what is Skinner doing there, is he hurt?" he asked. Skinner heard some caution in his voice.

"No, I have not been here all this time. I retreated to this place to catch my breath when I saw Mr. Skinner here. He seemed confused or frightened, and so I attempted to calm him when he attacked me. It appears that Mr. Skinner has been a lycanthrope all along, Mr. Remington."

Skinner almost chuckled. Of course _he_ was the bad guy now, who else? He was always the bad guy, it seemed...

Remington looked from Nemo to Skinner. Skinner tried to catch his eyes, but he assumed it was hard for Remington to get it when he couldn't even see his eyes. Skinner noticed how he didn't let his rifle down. He seemed to hold it ready in his arms.

"Skinner? A lycanthrope? How strange, I noticed no signs of that." He said. Nemo didn't look away from his face.

"No, I assume it is hard to see any signs when you cannot see him."

Skinner saw how Nemo didn't lower his sword. They both seemed to be more than aware that they had to fight each other to get out.

"Just tell me one thing, captain Nemo..." Remington started. Nemo raised an eyebrow as if motioning him to continue. "..how long do you think he has been a werewolf?"

Nemo didn't look away this time either. He stared Remington in his eyes.

"No more than a few days is my guess. He was probably infected in some way by young Adria."

Remington grinned and raised his rifle to his shoulder, ready to fire at any time.

"Don't you think it is curious then, that he was infected by her when he has never even been close to her? And he has been a werewolf for a few days, and he had no problem handling silver bullets this very evening? You lie, captain, and I want to know why!"

Nemo slowly took a few steps forward, glaring as Remington. He held his sword in a relaxed way that gave away his mastery of it. He lowered it so the blade pointed down by his feet, Remington cocked his rifle. They never looked away from each other.

And when the storm was about to break loose, the door smashed open, sending fragments of it out in the entire room. Something that seemed to be pure power whirled in through it. Remington saw Nemo be brutally smashed backwards before he received a hard blow to his head. He collapsed to the floor and the world turned black.


	25. Two or three

Hate insects, spiders, my perverted brain, B horror movies, early mornings and missing Hellboy on the big screen. Love school, my sweet brother who made tea for me during my migraine attack, Jason Flemyng, Jason Voorhees (he rules!), Conan O'Brien, Janoch the sexy half-orc, orcs in general and caffeine. Also send a thought to my grandmother, it's her 70'th birthday tomorrow (Sunday), and to my dog who has just gone through surgery.

**simonluke26** – Aw, thanks for all the praise. Nothing can make you feel as good. I also liked Dr. Jekyll most, maybe it shows. Do you think Remington is the evil guy? It seems like no one at all likes Remington. Don't know what to think about that. Maybe something in the lines of "Ha, ha!" in a very Nelson kind of way. Anyway, hope you like this, and please review again if you like.

And now, one of the final chapters. It has nudity. Have much fun.

- - -

- - -

Adria woke up again. She looked around herself dizzily and wondered what had just happened. She yawned and when she shut her mouth again, she felt the taste of blood. She let her tounge run around in her mouth in an attempt to find the small wound, but she couldn't. She wondered why she could taste blood. And just a moment later, she wondered why she was naked. She sat up and looked down on her hands. A small, frightened cry escaped her. Blood on her hands. And she was pretty sure it wasn't her blood. She checked her body, but she could find no bleeding wound. She did find lots and lots of cuts and bruises, and her chest had strange red marks on the sides, but she couldn't find anything that bled or seemed to have bled recently. She looked around herself again, and spotted something blue. A heap of blue clothes. She took a few steps closer.

"Oh my god... captain Nemo...?" she whispered as she could see him more clearly. She then jogged towards his body and sank down on her knees beside him. She wondered for a short, panicked moment what she should do with him. She even considered calling for Dr. Jekyll, before she realized he was probably not there. She put her hand on Nemo's shoulder and turned him around. He rolled over almost effortlessly and exposed his horrifying wounds. She backed away from him and felt her stomach turn. She stepped away as long as she could before she threw up on the carpet. She then cried out again. It was blood red.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god..." she whispered and kept her hands pressed against her temples. "It can't be, I couldn't have... I was just... it was..."

She tried to convince herself that it wasn't her fault, but she knew she had probably done everything she thought she had. She could remember nothing after that full moon. She sobbed and wandered around, wondering what she would do. She then leant down and tore of a great piece of the carpet which she tried to conceal herself with as much as she could. She then noticed something white by the wall and stopped to look at it. It looked like the sad theater mask.

"Mr. Skinner?" she asked, feeling quite stupid when she did. The mask didn't look up, but she could hear something mumble. She slowly began walking towards him.

"Don't worry Mr. Skinner. I think I might help you..." she started, but was interrupted by a loud bang. Fragments of the wall shot out towards her. She span around and stared at Remington. He was reloading his rifle, staring intensively at her. Half his face was covered in blood, giving him a barbaric look. The hair on the back of his head was smeared with blood as well.

"So!" he said and cocked his weapon. "It seems that I was right, after all. I should have killed you a long time ago."

Adria backed away from him, terrified. She never imagined that rifle pointed at her.

"Mr. Skinner is hurt, Remington, and I think it might be very serious, we should..."

"Shut up!" he interrupted her again. "I know Skinner is hurt, but I will not let you touch him. I will take care of you before I even try to help him. Be a smart girl and stand still so I can give you a painless death, would you?"

"But I have done nothing!" she cried out, fearing for her life. He motioned with his head against Nemo's broken body.

"I didn't mean to..." she whispered, still staring at Remington. He sighed.

"Listen, little girl. I understand, believe me. I know you don't mean to hurt people, but as long as you are alive, you will! It's best for everyone if you stand still and let me kill you here. If you flee, more will die. Eventually, you will be hunted down too, if you haven't killed yourself yet. This can only end one way, so let it end here!"

She didn't stop moving, ever. She circled around him, always trying to move away from the pipe of his weapon. The stared at each other.

"Please, no..." she would sometimes whisper, but he didn't let the rifle down. She backed against a bookshelf and tried to cross her arms over her chest.

"I'm sorry, Adria, but this is how it has to be." Remington said and took better aim. Adria realized that she couldn't try to avoid it anymore, she had to stop him from shooting somehow, or she would die. She went through several possible means of escape in her head and rejected them all during a second. She desperately took a book from the shelf and threw it at him. He pulled the trigger out of reflex. She felt the silver bullet dig into her arm and howled in pain. But she didn't let that stop her, she recognized her chance and fled out of the door. Remington followed her out, but she was gone before he made it out. He smacked the wall with his open palm and called her a lot of things. He then hung the rifle on his shoulder and returned into the library. He sat down next to Skinner and sighed.

"Are you alive, Coat?" he asked and wondered how they could give an invisible man medical treatment. Skinner muttered something. He spoke slightly slurred, as if he was drunk. Remington didn't really like that.

"Where are you hurt and how bad do you think it is?"

The mask moved. Remington had a feeling Skinner was either looking at him or something behind him.

"My schould..." he began and moaned slightly. "Very, veery... hurtsch... again..."

"Your shoulder hurts again, is that what you are saying?"

"Mm."

Remington sighed. He hoped that Nemo hadn't hurt him too badly.

"Nemo." Skinner said.

"Yes, yes, Skinner, I know Nemo did that."

"Nemo...?"

Remington could hear surprise in his voice. He turned around and was almost scared out of his wits. Nemo stood in the doorway!

"Sweet holy mother of God!" he cried out and covered his hands in his face. He could take a lot of things, but he wasn't prepared to see a ghost. The apparition gave him one of Nemo's personal 'surprise' looks before it caught sight of the mangled body on the floor.

"How interesting." He said and kneeled down beside it. Remington still stared.

"Nemo... aren't you supposed to be dead? Or, maybe you are dead and have..."

"Calm yourself, Mr. Remington. As you can see, I am still alive. But if you witnessed the death of this impostor, I can understand why you would believe such a thing. How he managed to take my appearance so perfectly would be interesting to know."

"Are you the real Nemo?"

Nemo looked at the body's face. He motioned to Remington to come. Remington slowly came closer.

"Come look at his eyes, Mr. Remington. I am certain they are all the proof you need."

Remington got down next to Nemo, risking his life should Nemo not be the one they knew. He looked at the eyes and compared them to the living one's.

"Oh. I see, you are the original."

The eyes of the body was a shady grey.

"He must've been some kind of doppleganger."

"Yes, it is very interesting. Sadly, I do not think we have the spare time to look a it's body. I believe Mr. Skinner is in need of treatment."

They looked at the sad mask in the corner. He mumbled something and smiled slightly.

- - -

Mina stood outside the small town hospital. It was just one small house with maybe three beds in it. Tom was occupying one of them now. She didn't want to go in, she thought that the blood she almost certainly would see in there would be too much. She didn't want to drain anyone this night. Tom was in there, getting new blood from young men in the small town. She hoped he would make it, for everyone's sake. She had doubts she would be able to look at herself if she would be responsible for Tom's death. She sat down on the bench and tried to correct her clothing. As she did, she heard a howl from the plains. She felt a flutter of fear for the lives of the people in the town, if it was a werewolf come after them. When she heard no more, she thought it was just a coyote. Someone opened the door. She looked up at Jekyll.

"Well?" she asked when he didn't say anything. He smiled weakly.

"We're not sure yet. We think he will make it if he want to." He said and sat down next to her. She noticed the dark rings around his eyes.

"Maybe you should go get some sleep." She suggested. "You have done much work tonight."

He looked down on the ground.

"I didn't do much, actually. In there, I just gave them some good advice, they wouldn't let me touch him for some reason. And out there... well, you know how it is. He does the work and I am stuck with the exhaustion."

Mina nodded, despite that she didn't understand, she couldn't. How Jekyll could cope with it was more than she could grasp. He sat quietly next to her, still staring at the ground. She could see a twitch in the right corner of his mouth. She guessed he was having an inner dialog with his 'creation'. She looked at the carriage in the middle of the street.

"Maybe I should take it back to their nest. There are still three of us there, waiting for it."

Jekyll looked up at her.

"Don't you mean two of us and Remington?"

She didn't reply right away.

"Maybe." She finally said, got up in the carriage and ordered the horses to move. Jekyll looked after the disappearing shape.

"Three of us or just two and Remington. That's something to think about, isn't it?" he said loudly to no one special.

_Sure it is _the 'no one special' replied.


	26. The League

Alright! Last chapter! It's very long and cheesy, but I like it anyway. ****

**simonluke26 **– Thanks. Also, I think Mina can see herself in a mirror, since she did check how she looked in one when she had a meal in Dorian's house. She's a weird vampire, she's got all the perks and none of the setbacks. Go Mina, though… Oh, and Jekyll rules.

It's been great writing this. Thanks for all comments. Don't forget to leave one behind you when you leave. Just to be safe, Remington and Mina are not in love, no matter what it looks like. Thank you. And now, the final chapter of Creatures Of The Night!

- - -

- - -

The coachman sat on the carriage, smoking a pipe. He looked around himself, looking for whoever might want to leave the small town. Eventually, a small woman came going towards him. She wore clothes that seemed much too large for her and a giant hat on her head, covering most of her face from his view. He grinned.

"Hello little miss. Going on a trip today?"

The woman didn't reply. She didn't even look at him. She just gave him some money and quickly disappeared into the wagon. The coachman counted his money, shrugged and put it in his pocket.

"Seems like you're the only one today. It's been a slow month for it. Don't mind, do ya?" he said loudly and still got no response. He shrugged again.

"Well, neither do I then. Neither do I."

They sat there, quiet for a while. As always, the coachman wondered who the woman was. He always wondered who his passengers were. He spotted a man coming towards them. He walked up to the coachman and handed him a great deal of money.

"I'll give you more once we get there. All I want in return is that we leave now." He said slowly, as if he had trouble keeping his voice steady. The coachman put the money in his pocket and nodded.

"All aboard." He said. The man opened the door and sat down right in front of the woman. The coachman signalled to the horses to move, and pondered over his two mysterious passengers. They both paid too much and none had luggage. Mysterious.

For the passengers, the other was an equally large mystery. The woman tried to remember where he had seen the mans face. She carefully slid the hat down so it wouldn't be so obvious that she was staring. She quietly smelled the air, hoping to catch a scent she would recognize.

"Ask away." The man suddenly said. She looked up.

"Excuse me?"

"You have questions for me. Who are you? Where did you get that money? Have we met before? Can I have some money? The usual. Ask."

She looked down on the floor and listened to the sounds of the carriage for a while. Not polite to stare.

"Have we met before?" she asked quietly, feeling a bit ridiculous.

"Yes, ms. Adria, we have." The man replied. Adria lifted her hat to get a clearer look on his face.

"I'm sorry, am I supposed to recognize you?" she asked. She still couldn't smell anything she knew. It was odd, she recognized it but she had never smelt it before.

"Yes, I think you do. Also, stop trying to pick up my scent. You couldn't smell me when we met. It was sad, that. We got ever so close."

She got a biting suspicion.

"If you know me, you should know of my uncle's hotel, The Mirrored Sun. Have you ever been there?"

The man grinned.

"Yes. It was a short visit though."

"Which room?" she asked and realized directly after it was too quick.

"Absolutely not room 8. I was just there for a chat."

Adria removed her hat now. She stared at the man openly.

"Are you the...?" she whispered, her hand unwillingly touching the skin next to the corner of her eye. The man nodded. To her surprise, she put her hand right below her left shoulder.

Another nod. She felt her hands shiver.

"You are the..."

"My name is Gregory Talley, and I have come to say hi to my very own daughter."

Adria felt a shiver running down her spine. She could _feel_ her eye-color changing. A snarl escaped her. Her transformation was quickly brought to an end by a brutal backhanded slap. She stared at him, surprised. His eyes were yellow as well. A very dark yellow. He snarled at her.

"A child should show their elders more respect, Adria! I gave you this! I am your lycanthropic father, and it's time you show your gratitude, do you understand?!"

She was afraid. He was huge and frightening, and he wasn't even half-transformed. She understood the danger of her situation and nodded. Talley sat down again, brushing his clothes off.

"Good."

He said no more. She sat in front of him, looking down on the floor.

"Did you send him to the Nautilus?"

"What?"

"The assassin. Did you send him?"

"Ah, yes, that bloody idiot. No, I had nothing to do with him. And the one who sent him is dead. My only part of this was to kill."

More silence. Adria could feel some tension in the air.

"Did I have something to do with anything?"

He caught her sight and locked with it. She couldn't look away.

"No." He replied, making it sound obvious. "You were a mistake. I wasn't supposed to hurt you, I was supposed to hurt the american and kill you. You should've been able to figure that out on your own."

"Of course. But why are you interested in me now?"

Talley suddenly got up and sat down next to her. He put her hand on her shoulder. She shivered slightly.

"You see, my darling, I am crazy. A complete fucking lunatic. I sold everything I had to kill a man that was already dead. I lost my lover, the only one that ever could make me okay again and I abandoned her in that house out there. She's dead, murdered by your friends."

"They're not my friends..." she mumbled half-heartedly. He ignored her and continued with his little speech.

"I have nothing left and neither do you. Think about it. You have lost your humanity, your family, your friends and all of your obsession objects in the League. And you will eventually be hunted down and killed. Your only choice is to come with me."

"You'll kill me."

"In a fit of rage probably, yes. But still, I am your only chance now. Come on."

She looked at him. She considered. For a while, she wanted to say yes, she would go with him. But then she sw Dr. Jekyll's face before her. She knew somehow that he could help.

Somehow...

She closed her eyes in an attempt to prevent the tears from running down.

"Where are we going?"

He cleared his throat and gave her a threatening look. His hand squeezed her shoulder tightly.

"Where are we going, _father_?"

He smiled and removed his hand from her shoulder.

"Africa. We have to find some relatives of mine."

She nodded and smiled, opening her eyes again. Like she thought, the tears welled up again. She didn't want to stop them.

"I look forward to that." She whispered, trying to calm her shaking voice. He nodded and looked out of the window. She looked out of the one on her side.

"Goodbye, Dr. Jekyll..." she whispered and wondered why she couldn't stop crying.

- - -

Jekyll leaned against the wall and looked at the carriage. He knew she was in there. He felt some kind of encouragement from Hyde in the back of his head.

"Yes, Edward, I can see her."

_Go get her then._

"No."

_Why not?_

Jekyll was silent for a while, thinking about it. Why not? It disgusted him that he even considered it. Not to mention he wasn't sure he didn't want it.

"I don't want to hurt her."

Hyde was quiet now, only for a while, before he heard his voice again. There seemed to be some doubt in his voice, as if he didn't like saying it.

_She'll be more hurt this way. We can kill her afterwards. No one will ask anything. No one even knew she got out of the house. Did anyone even see her go in? The point is, this is a win-win situation. We get our little fun, she gets the death she so desperately needs._

"You'll do it the wrong way. I know you, Edward. You won't just kill her, you will... Make her suffer. You can't do it quickly, it's not in your nature."

_You have stopped trying to convince me not to do it._

"No I haven't."

_You don't deny that you want it._

"I'm not a liar. I do. I'm sorry to hear me say it, but I do. This is the best way."

_Why? How can it be the best way? No one gets anything!_

"Think about it, Edward. Now she could come back."

He nodded towards the carriage.

"Goodbye, Adria. I hope you have a nice life after all."

Saying this, he turned around and walked away, strangely happy with himself. He didn't see the man walking towards the carriage. He didn't see it leave.

- - -

Skinner woke up and wondered why he felt so strange. His arm was still numb. He looked to the side before he remembered there was nothing to see. He saw a bandage wrapped around his shoulder and upper arm. He tried to move his fingers. He couldn't feel anything against them, but he saw the bedsheets move, so he guessed they were there. He didn't have very high thoughts at all about Nemo. He looked to the other side. Tom looked back at him.

"Hey kid." Skinner mumbled. Tom smiled weakly.

"Hey. How are you, Skinner?"

Tom was pale and had dark rings around his eyes.

"Apparently better than you."

"Maybe you are, I feel terrible. But I'm glad to see you awake."

"I'm glad to be awake. I never imagined a stab in your shoulder was so bad."

"It really isn't. Dr. Jekyll told me that you were poisoned somehow."

Skinner nodded.

"Yeah, that might explain it. So what happened to you?"

"Mina."

There was a short uncomfortable silence.

"Mina?"

Tom shaked his head.

"I don't know either. I think the vampires there did something to her. Anyway, she bit me."

"Oh..."

"But atleast I'll live, and Mina has ensured me there will be no consequenses at all. I'm not dead yet."

Skinner nodded. He assumed it wasn't Mina's fault. He knew nothing about it, so there was no one he could blame.

"So what happened to you then?"

Skinner touched the bandage. It stinged a bit when he did.

"Nemo was angry. I think Remington killed him, I'm not sure. He's dead anyway, I have blurry memories of his body..."

Tom raised an eyebrow.

"Nemo isn't dead. He was here to check on us a few hours ago."

Skinner stared at him.

"What...?" he whispered. He could hardly believe it. As if it was his que, Nemo came in through the door. Skinner made a strange, squeeking noise before he screamed straight out in terror. Tom tried to calm him down.

"Skinner, calm down, it's just Nemo, you know Nemo!"

Nemo just stood in the doorway, waiting for Skinner to stop screaming. And eventually he did, he sat quietly and just stared. Skinner saw he had no sword by his side, but he was terrified anyway.

"Mr. Skinner, I assure you, there is nothing I would do that could cause any harm to you." Nemo said.

"How can you just stand there and say so?! You impaled me on your damned sword, you traitor!"

Nemo didn't even flinch. He didn't seem to mind the accusation thrown at him.

"That was not me. It was a creature that had somehow stolen my appearance."

Skinner didn't reply. They didn't know if it was because he was angry, scared or hesitant to continue.

"A creature had stolen my appearance and tried to use you as a scapegoat in order to gain the members of the League's trust, Mr. Skinner. He could have killed you and others if Mr. Remington had not given him away."

"That's an unlikely story, Nemo. Maybe you are that creature, how would we know?"

"You can tell by my eyes, but that is something you cannot know. You were uncoinscous at the moment we discovered that proof. But I am not that creature, and I hope that in time your trust for me will be rebuilt. If it will make you feel any better, I shall leave."

Skinner was still quiet.

"Yes, please." He said quietly, almost sadly. Nemo nodded and left. The door closed behind him. Tom looked at Skinner. He wished he could see the look on his face.

"Are you okay?"

"I don't know... do you think he told me the thruth?"

"Definitly. Skinner, you can trust Nemo. An impostor would've been caught by now. You can take it easy."

Skinner laid down again and sighed.

"Did everyone get hurt because of another member?" he asked.

"I was the only one, I promise."

Skinner nodded.

"I think I believe you, Tom."

- - -

Remington looked out over the sea. He saw the Nautilus a bit away from the shore. He smelled the air and was happy the whole ordeal was over. He heard someone come. Mina stopped beside him and looked at the ship out there. No one said anything for a while.

"Aren't you going to blame me, Mr. Remington?" she said. Remington looked at her.

"What do you mean?"

"I can almost feel it in the air. Don't you have anything to say?"

"Oh, you mean about Sawyer." He said and looked up at the sky. He squinted. "This might sound weird, but I really don't. He has forgiven you. I don't think many men would forgive a woman who almost drank them dry in _that_ way. But he did. He must have some reason to do that. He sees you as a woman, not a vampire like I do. You have done nothing to me and I should stop thinking that you will sometime. You've had plenty of chances to kill me."

They stood there, silent for a while. Mina felt strangely calm.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Harker. It's ironic that the fact that you almost killed someone makes me trust you. Maybe it's because you just almost killed him."

She smiled slightly.

"Yes, maybe. I accept your apology, Mr. Remington. And now that we have passed that, might I ask why you stand here on your own?"

"I'm thinking."

Mina didn't ask again. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the wind against her face.

"This might sound strange, but how is Dr. Jekyll?"

"As he always is, Mr. Remington. Quiet."

"Ah."

"Are you worried that he will blame you for Adria's disappearance? Don't worry, I talked to him about it. Apparently, she attacked Hyde while she was transformed. He thinks that they killed her, not that you did."

Remington nodded.

"But I didn't."

"Excuse me?"

"I didn't kill her. I tried to, but she got away. I'm afraid she's still around here somewhere. A lot of people will die and eventually she as well. I tried to make it as quick as possible for her there, but I missed."

"Maybe she will come back."

"What makes you think that?"

"She knows what she is now and she should know she has nowhere to go. She might come to us for help. Didn't you notice while she was with us, how she always wanted to be with Dr. Jekyll? It was obvious she felt something for him, not necessarily love, maybe trust or respect. She might come. If not, then we can not do anything for her. But we mustn't say anything to Dr. Jekyll. He is troubled enough as it is."

Remington nodded.

"Absolutely. Do you think he loved her?"

"Maybe. You never know. He might have felt responsibility for her, or loved her as a daughter."

They looked at each other. Mina saw something in his face, but it disappeared. She decided to give him her advice anyway.

"If it feels better for you, you might talk to him about it."

"About love? Please, Mrs. Harker, how can I ask if he loved the one I adviced you to kill? We don't have very high thoughts of each other as it is."

"Let's just hope that changes."

Remington smiled.

"Why?"

"I have been meaning to ask you before, but maybe now is the time. I already see you as a member of the League, and maybe the others do as well. How do you see yourself?"

Remington shrugged and grinned.

"I really don't know. When this began, I saw you as a helping hand to kill the werewolves. Now that it's done, I don't know what to think of you. But if you will have me, I would be honored to join you."

Mina smiled slightly and nodded.

"Should we go and and see what the others might think of it?"

"I'd be glad to, Mrs. Harker."

They turned around and walked back towards the small town, together.

- - -

_The End_


End file.
